2 arrested in bust at Vancouver house full of stolen clothing and liquor
Vancouver police have busted a shoplifting and fencing operation being run out of a South Vancouver house that was set up like a store, with rooms full of stolen clothing and booze laid out on racks and tables.
Sgt. Aaron Roed said an anonymous tip led VPD to the location where two people were taken into custody on Nov. 27. The pair is known to police.
"We were able to determine these two people were committing the thefts and then reselling the items through the house," he said. "This is what these people are doing for a living — shoplifting in Metro Vancouver, hitting retail stores and then selling it to make a profit."
Calculating the value of the goods — $90,000 in clothing and $40,000 in alcohol — was simple because most items still had the price tags attached.
"It's everything from Lululemon to Kate Spade bags to American Eagle," he said. "There's probably 25 different stores [represented]."
Roed said there were no shoppers in the home when police made the arrests. He said the stolen alcohol was from both government liquor stores and beer and wine shops.
The two suspects have been released, but charges are expected to be laid shortly.
Police are working to return the stolen items to the stores they came from.
The VPD has received close to 2,000 reports of shoplifting so far this year, but Roed believes the crime often goes unreported with store owners electing to eat the loss.
"Everybody can help deter this," he said. "If there was no market for stolen goods, shoplifting wouldn't be happening at the scale it is."
