They are brave and are hooked on stealing.
Two young women have been arrested by police and booster bags, used for stealing were seized, after $2,500 worth of batteries were allegedly stolen from a South Etobicoke store.
Police say the women were arrested at a local hardware store “with a high-end bag.”
“These bags are known as booster bags which are insulated and lined with custom hand-rolled tin foil inside,” officers from 22 Division said on October 1 in a Tweet.
The foil is said to avert detection of the stolen goods from anti-theft devices inside the stores. They say the bags, which are used by organized theft rings, expand as more stolen goods are placed inside.
Police say a sharp eye security officer detected the thieves and called police. The women were arrested and charged accordingly, according to police.
Officers have not revealed the names of the women.
Police called the thefts ‘sophisticated and organized’ and that it costs Canadian retailers about $4.67 billion yearly.
It results in Canadian consumers paying 20 per cent more for goods as a result of retail theft, according to a social media campaign last year.
In Toronto last year, a joint investigation by loss-prevention officers and Toronto Police resulted in three arrests in connection with an elaborate and organized shoplifting ring targeting mall stores.
Nearly $390,000 in clothing had been stolen and $90,000 in personal items, including shampoo and hand cream, for a grand total of nearly $500,000.
The stolen goods were allegedly being sold from a semi-detached home North York, detectives say.
Much of the ‘hot’ goods are also sold at pop-up events, warehouse sales, flea markets and low-income malls in neighbourhoods where people do not ask many questions if the price is low, police say.
Stolen goods may also show up mixed among legitimate goods at convenience stores and discount stores owned by unscrupulous vendors.
Police say harsher penalties are required since retail theft is viewed as a low-risk, high-reward crime. The penalties are minimal.
Even people who offend multiple times are only held in jail for a couple of days before they are released. He says criminals know they won’t face serious jail time for stealing from a retailer, so they stick to it.