A Vancouver Police The Organized Crime Project has arrested five people and seized hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cash, drugs and property.
Beginning in the spring, investigators began a months-long operation tracking stolen property from stores to sidewalks on the Downtown Eastside and eventually to the suspects’ homes.
“The prevalence of shoplifting fuels an illegal market for stolen goods, impacting small businesses, employees and consumers,” said Inspector Mario Mastropieri. “Much of this illegal market runs directly through the Downtown Eastside, where stolen goods are openly bought and sold and then resold online for a profit.”
Police believe an “organised theft operation” bought up stolen goods at extremely low prices and then resold them online for huge profits.
Vancouver police tracked the stolen items from Vancouver's East Side to homes in residential areas.
“Our work confirms that ring-fenced operations fuel an underground theft economy where some criminals make thousands of dollars a week by buying and selling stolen goods,” Mastropieri said. “These criminal rings recruit desperate and drug-addicted Downtown East residents to steal from shops.”
A few months ago in March, police traced the stolen property to a home on East Georgia Street in the Strathcona neighborhood.
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Through a search warrant, police found $155,000 in cash, stolen electronics, designer clothing, painkillers and vitamins. Two men and a woman in their 60s were arrested for theft of property.
In April, police witnessed a man and a woman buying stolen goods near East Hastings and Carral Streets. The two were tracked to residences in the Kensington-Cedar Cottage area and Hastings-Sunrise area of East Vancouver. Police found stolen baby formula, gym clothes, toiletries, vitamins, electronics and alcohol at the residences. Police estimate that more than $230,000 worth of stolen goods were seized.
A man in his 40s and a woman in her 50s were arrested. Police also seized two vehicles suspected of being used to store and transport stolen goods.
A month later, in May, police searched a home on Nanaimo Street near Trout Lake Park. Police found stolen makeup, clothing, designer bags, gym clothes, alcohol, vitamins, as well as cocaine and fentanyl. Police seized an estimated $107,000 worth of stolen property and $10,000 worth of drugs.
A woman was arrested and a car was impounded.
“These investigations were complex and time-consuming, involving dozens of skilled frontline officers and specialized investigators,” said Inspector Mike Kim, head of the Vancouver Police Department’s Identity Theft and Anti-Theft Unit. “We believe that in each case, the criminals intentionally purchased stolen property on East Hastings Street and then transported it back to their homes with the intent to sell it online.”
The arrests are part of the latest phase of Project Barcode, launched by Vancouver police in February 2023. The project is designed to combat “violent and chronic” shoplifters in retail stores across the city. Since then, the VPD's initiative has resulted in nearly 1,200 arrests and the recovery of $1.4 million in stolen property, police said.
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