Dozens Arrested for Organized Retail Crime in San Jose

San Jose, Calif. Police in San Jose, Calif., along with the IRS and FBI, announced more than a dozen arrests to end a two-and-a-half-year multi-agency criminal investigation in the South Bay Area involving organized retail crime (ORC). Police seized massive quantities of cash and stolen retail merchandise.

“Organized retail crime threatens the safety of American citizens,” said Paul Jones, Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) VP of asset protection. “The products that are stolen and sold as a result of ORC are often unsafe and threaten the well-being of consumers.”

The suspects identified in the San Jose case are suspected of buying massive quantities of stolen merchandise from shoplifting “booster” teams and selling the discounted items, which included teeth whiteners, razor blades and over-the-counter drugs, in San Jose and throughout the United States.

At a press conference, San Jose police displayed and distributed a video of local San Jose storefronts operating as “shadow supermarkets.”

Stolen merchandise, along with suspects’ photographs, were on display at the press conference. Several retailers, including Safeway and Walgreens, cooperated in the investigation.