Police recovered an estimated $300,000 worth of stolen property in connection with an organized retail theft operation in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Westlake Wednesday, authorities announced.
According to L.A. Police Department Commander Lillian Carranza, officers from the department’s Rampart Division served two search warrants in the area of South Alvarado and 6th streets.
In a post to X, formerly Twitter, Carranza said the search warrants were part of a three-prong operation targeting flash-mob thieves, street vendors and others that receive stolen retail property.
Officials did not say if any arrests were made.
Just a mile and a half away from the Westlake operation, LAPD’s Joint Organized Retail Crime Task Force made 12 arrests in connection with another retail theft operation.
Twelve adults and four juveniles were taken into custody in the 700 block of South Figueroa Street after they were observed by undercover officers “concealing merchandise and exiting the stores without paying,” according to a LAPD news release.
While authorities did not give an estimate of how much stolen property was recovered, they said all of the merchandise was returned to retailers.
On Dec. 5, LAPD Chief Michel Moore told the Board of Police Commissioners that the organized retail crime task force has recovered more than $1.2 million in stolen property since the task force was launched in August of this year.
Even with the recent arrests, organized retail theft continues to be a problem in Southern California.
Just last month, two women tied to a Romanian theft group used a “booster skirt,” a garment with a loose elastic waistband that can be used to drop items into, were able to steal an estimated $3,600 in cosmetics from Sephora in Calabasas, police said.
Weeks later, another Calabasas retailer called Feature was taken for $15,000 in merchandise by a trio of brazen thieves.