Reasons Why Organized Retail Theft has Flourished (Part-3)

Professional shoplifters steal huge amounts of products that are relatively expensive and can be easily sold to dishonest wholesalers, retailers and flea market operators. The thieves are often drug addicts or ex-convicts who know that the penalties for shoplifting are not serious. In fact, most shoplifters do not spend any time in jail and pay only small fines, if they pay a fine at all. The availability of targeted products, the relatively high income possible through shoplifting for a fence, low expectation of prosecution, and small risk of doing jail time, provide all the incentives professional shoplifters need. The fences and corrupt dealers in stolen merchandise know where to find and recruit their boosters. A single organized retail theft ring may operate in a number of states. The corrupt wholesaler or dealer that pays for shoplifted merchandise often buys full trailer loads of stolen merchandise. Full loads of merchandise may be stolen from truck stops, truck terminals, or hijacked hundreds of miles distant from the dishonest wholesaler’s place of business. As with the crime of shoplifting, there is small risk of apprehension for professional cargo thieves. The FBI has greatly reduced the number of Special Agents assigned to investigating cargo thefts. The National Cargo Security Council estimates cargo theft losses to exceed $10 billion per year and growing.