(NewsNation) — More than seven dozen people have been arrested in connection with an organized crime ring investigators say ran across Southern Florida.
The group is accused of targeting major retailers — including Publix, Walmart, Target and Walgreens — stealing high-value items that resulted in more than $20 million in retail losses.
Detectives have said the big-box retailers played a significant role in tracking down the crime ring members.
Stores like Target gave detectives videos and information about the suspected thieves.
Video obtained by the Miami-Dade Police Department and shared with NewsNation shows the shoplifters in action.
Detectives said the crime ring used “boosters” — people who would go to multiple stores daily and steal.
In some instances, the boosters would get a master key to unlock secured items like over-the-counter medication and clear out the shelves, load up their carts and sell the items online, detectives said.
Despite big busts happening across the country, retail theft isn’t going away. Videos continue to surface of thieves overwhelming stores as employees are increasingly told not to intervene.
Some major retailers have decided to close their stores in response.
Target recently announced it will close nine stores in four states, including New York and California, because retail crime has threatened the safety of its workers and customers.
“It is terrifying to be caught up when a group of people come in and start to rip apart the shelves and ransack the store,” former FBI agent Stuart Kaplan said. “You don’t know what they may or may not do to you physically. It’s these types of quality of crimes that really demoralize these types of communities in these neighborhoods.”
New numbers from the National Retail Federation (NRF) show retail crime accounted for over $112 billion in industry losses last year.
The situation is only becoming more dire, according to the NRF.
Although criminals target stores throughout the United States, the top five cities affected by organized retail crime in the past year include Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, New York and Seattle.
Detectives in South Florida highlight that retail thefts impact not only the stores but also the consumers, forcing stores to close or pass off the costs to customers.
