Organized retail crime is ‘complex fraud’

October 3 – It is important that police and companies form a united front to tackle retail crime, according to a professional who investigates retail crime at a major drugstore chain.

The New Mexico Organized Retail Crime Association hosted its second annual conference last month. NMORCA is a partnership between the New Mexico Chamber of Commerce, retail businesses and law enforcement agencies in the state of New Mexico.

Andrew Hidalgo is Walmart’s market asset protection manager. He was on a panel at the NMORCA conference on September 27.

He said it is a myth that organized retail crime is just shoplifting.

NMORCA describes organized retail crime as a kind of pyramid structure with drivers, or shoplifters, at the bottom. Boosters sell stolen products at fences. Fences then turn around and sell the stolen product to people who don’t know it was stolen.

If the plan is large enough, there may be an organizer and that organizer may be part of a network.

Jake Crank, a major crimes investigator at Walgreens, was on a retail resources panel at the conference.

“Organized crime is like the mafia,” Crank said.

He said most people have a limited idea of ​​what organized retail crime is. But he said it’s “everything from fraudulent returns, embezzlement, cargo theft, shoplifting from traveling groups, online fraud – there’s a lot of it.”

Hidalgo said certain products are stolen more often than others.

“All types of merchandise, everything from baby food to Tide – one of the most common – to trading cards,” Hidalgo said.

Brian Barratt, a field researcher at Target, shared similar sentiments as Crank.

“This is complex fraud that they are using to manipulate systems,” Barratt said.

The panelists said some companies use internal information about retail crime when investigating crime. Hidalgo said things like license plates and names of suspected shoplifters across multiple different store franchises are loaded onto a platform and shared.

“Any information we post on any topic will automatically combine and connect these things together,” Hidalgo said.

A suspect can be charged in multiple shoplifting cases and, once the total retail value of all the thefts is added up, charged with a more serious crime, according to New Mexico law.

“Organized retail crime is a gateway crime,” Crank said.