Thread: Shoplifting ring may be tied to MS 13 gang

http://www.khou.com/news/local/stories/ ... 0ac89.html

Shoplifting ring may be tied to MS 13 gang

11:02 PM CST on Wednesday, November 30, 2005
By Vicente Arenas / 11 News

Shoplifting gangs are targeting stores all over Houston and they're believed to be part of an organized crime ring with possible links to terrorism.

Some of the suspects have been caught, but only on tape.

The shoplifters in the surveillance video will end up costing you money, taking stealing to a whole new level.

"Joe Sixpack shoplifter is going to hit a business for less than $100. When these folks go into a business, it's going to hurt them for thousands of dollars," said Johnnie Jeziersky, DPS.

The shoplifters stuff costly diabetic strips, Prilosec, Rogaine and other costly medications into a huge garbage bag.

"You take 'em around and they say 'We hit that Walgreen's. They say there's not a Walgreen's we haven't been in. There's not a CVS they haven't hit. They've hit everything," said Daniel Frazee with the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

Investigators say the ring, which has also been hitting stores around the country, sells the stolen goods on the black market.

Much of the money made, thousands of dollars a day we're told, goes to MS 13 gang members who profit from this normally low profile crime.

"The gang problem has become more organized. The thing is, it's like the mob, if you don't see it usually people are not going to talk about it," said a former Houston gang member.)

The man, who doesn't want to be identified, says organized crime is growing in Houston every day.

Community advocate Amanda Escobedo agrees. "It's not going to go away. It's going to get larger and when the city and the police department and the schools don't address it right away, that's why we are where we are now," she said.

Some of these shoplifters have been arrested but officers say there are as many as hundreds of others in Houston, still doing the same thing.

There have been 12 arrested so far.

Investigators said they have heard of a terroristic threat but have so far not found any evidence that such a threat exists. They said that one of their biggest challenges is that the justice system tends to go easy on shoplifters.

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?secti ... id=3683386

Shoplifting rings target drugstores all over Houston
Stores and customer foot the bill
By Ted Oberg
(11/30/05 - KTRK/HOUSTON) - Organized crime is active in Houston and police say the crooks are everywhere. They're ripping off stores, driving up prices and then selling the loot right back to the victims -- with the profits paying the bills for groups like the violent gang MS 13.

It's shoplifting, but on a scale never before seen here. Police say the scheme costs Houston businesses a million dollars every month. It is a problem so widespread that law enforcement is at times helpless to stop it. A million dollars a month in Houston means $30 billion a year nationwide. Chances are it's going on right now and costing you money every time you buy over the counter drugs.
"There isn't a store in Houston they haven't hit," said Detective Dan Frazee with the Harris County Sheriff's department.

Shoplifters were caught on tape at a Kroger brazenly loading thousands of dollars worth of over the counter medications in a bag before bolting for the door. They are just a few of the thieves working in Houston every day.

Sgt. Johnnie Jezierski with the Texas Department of Public Safety predicted, "It'll be in the hundreds today."

There is nothing tricky about the operation. Thieves walk in the front door of a drug store, empty a shelf of the products they want and walk out. It's shipped to a middleman warehouse, repackaged and then resold to legitimate drug stores across the country, making stores almost powerless to stop it.

Thieves can make up to $5,000 a day. The warehouse middle men make far more. The money often ends up in the hands of Latin American gangs.

Det. Frazee said, "We learned during the investigation that some of this is connected to MS-13."

The rings have specific shopping lists. They know exactly what the underworld will pay for Tylenol, Rogaine, Pepcid, Prilosec, Nicorette, diabetes test strips and other items.

Drug stores know it's going on. In fact, some clerks recognize the thieves on sight. To slow them down some stores have locked drugs up.

That slowed them down, but didn't stop them. Crooks found a key in one store and it opened locks across town

The thefts have been going on for years. But just recently dozens of suspects  men, women and children -- have been arrested. The bust made a dent in the problem but simply can't stop it.

The thieves can get arrested, but by the time they're taken to jail and the case goes to court they've probably already served all the time they're going to. Misdemeanor theft is such a low level crime, they basically walk out of jail free.

"They know the system very well and take advantage of it," explained Sgt. Jezierski.

The crooks are out there today. Chances are they'll be running out of a store, costing you cash tomorrow.

" It's not going to end," said Det. Frazee.

We're told the thieves work six days a week. They told cops they take Sundays off for religious reasons. Go figure.

Detectives know there is a connection between the thieves and the Honduran MS 13 gang. The director of the FBI has also drawn links to Middle Eastern terror networks, although that is much harder to prove. According to published reports, the feds apparently traced money to the mid east but the trail unraveled there.

Detectives tell us there is little, if any, risk to the public. The crime rings apparently don't tamper with the medications at all. This is a money maker for the crime rings, and tampered products can't be sold.

http://www.khou.com

Investigators: Shoplifters linked to organized crime

05:34 PM CST on Wednesday, November 30, 2005
By Amy Tortolani / 11 News


Click to watch video

Shoplifting may seem like a relatively small crime, but Houston authorities say the gang of shoplifters they've arrested had links to organized crime and possibly even terrorists.
A surveillance camera caught them in the act stealing thousands of dollars worth of over-the-counter drugs.

It happened so quickly, so frequently and with such ease that even veteran investigators were impressed. That's because these weren't your ordinary shoplifters.

"Nationwide criminal enterprise operates with Houston as hub," said Sgt. Johnnie Jezierski with the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Investigators say stores and pharmacies can't keep up with the thieves. They've lost an estimated $30 million a year go the shoplifting rings.

"They will go out and hit stores with such a high frequency or high number of times and they get nervous about going back in that they take what they call a road trip," explained Detective Daniel Frazee with the Harris County Sheriff's Dept. "They leave the state of Texas and venture to other states and do the same thing."

Investigators say those captured admit ties to notorious gangs.

"We know because of the interviews with some of these people, pressure put on them by MS13 members to go out and commit these offenses," said Detective Frazee. "And, according to what they told us, part of the money they make is funneled into MS13 area."

Detectives explained how they operate.

"They go out on a daily basis and go to retail stores, take over-the-counter products, take it back to another location, box it up and call a buyer," said Detective Frazee.

Then the buyer sends the stolen goods to a warehouse where the items are reboxed and resold.

It's the owners of the warehouses that investigators stop just short of calling terrorists.

"There have been indications of that, but no evidence of that," said Sgt. Jezierski.

We contacted the FBI about these crimes and local agents tell us they are aware of the ties to MS13 but can't comment on any ties to terrorism.

Investigators say some of the stolen items end up back on the store shelves again.

"They wouldn't be surprised if they're getting their own product back," said Detective Frazee.

We asked several business about that, but only Kroger returned our call. "You don't have to worry if you buy through a normal retail outlet or legitimate outlet," said a company spokesperson. "A lot of the items stolen are sold at online auctions, flea markets and things of that nature."

Regardless, consumers still get stuck picking up the tab through higher prices.