West Shore RCMP arrested two men in connection with a recent shoplifting spree where an estimated $10,000 worth of merchandise was stolen from businesses across the capital region in a single afternoon.
The arrests led to a cache of more stolen goods and illicit drugs in New Westminster.
The suspects were observed via covert surveillance at several locations of Home Depot, London Drugs and Best Buy, police said.
After members of the Crime Reduction Unit and the Drugs & Organized Crime Unit made the arrests Sept. 12 outside a business in Duncan, a search of the suspects’ vehicle turned up a large amount of items suspected to have been stolen that day, the RCMP said.
The vehicle was seized and the suspects have been released with a Dec. 12 court date.
“Our officers worked diligently on this investigation, conducting surveillance on the suspects, arresting them and recovering stolen merchandise and cash, as well as thousands of doses of illicit and prescription drugs,” said Supt. Todd Preston, officer in charge of West Shore RCMP.
The investigation is ongoing and police expect charges to be forthcoming, Preston said.
“I have had conversations with the B.C. Prosecutors’ Office and expressed the impact that chronic shoplifting is having on the West Shore.
Police said the suspects are two men, age 45 and 30, who are not Vancouver Island residents.
A search of one man’s New Westminster home the following day turned up about $30,000 worth of stolen merchandise, including tools and electronics, about $20,000 worth of stolen high-end clothing with the tags still attached, and suspected drugs including cocaine, counterfeit fentanyl, hydromorphone and benzodiazepines, along with $30,000 in cash, police said.
Cpl. Nancy Saggar said people sometimes commit crimes outside their home communities because they feel they are anonymous and can better avoid detection.
Late last year, West Shore RCMP conducted a six-week shoplifting crackdown and arrested 27 people, including a Chilliwack resident suspected in multiple previous thefts from the same business.
Officers worked with stores’ loss-prevention staff during the crackdown, which was carried out from November through the end of December.
A similar effort by Victoria police from Nov. 27 to Dec. 5 resulted in 109 arrests.
West Shore RCMP said that reported cases of shoplifting under $5,000 in their jurisdiction rose 29 per cent last year from the year before, to 514 from 400.
In March, a 50-year-old woman and a 58-year-old man were arrested in Langford after police found a shopping cart outside Walmart filled about $1,000 in stolen goods.
Police had already been investigating four reports of large-scale shoplifting at the store in from January to March.
