PANAMA CITY — U.S. Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Scott Springer spoke about organized retail theft at the Panhandle CrimeStoppers’ monthly meeting on Tuesday.
Springer said retail theft is “something that goes on in our community every day,” and “a lot of people are not aware of its impact.”
Retail theft sometimes happens when organized groups go into a store and steal items, and later repack and sell the items for a profit, Springer said.
He said it is hard for consumers to see whether an item is stolen and has been repackaged and sold again, but he said if the label is torn it might be a sign that it has been stolen and repackaged.
Expensive items such as cigarettes are often stolen, he said. He also talked about a case he worked on in Texas in 1999 where an organized group stole infant formula.
In his presentation Springer said the director of the FBI has said there sometimes are links between terrorist activities, terrorism funding and organized retail crime.
But Springer said that “… 90 percent of the organizations that are involved in buying and selling stolen merchandise are just greedy people, and they have nothing to do with any kind of terrorist financing.”
Law enforcement from Panama City, Panama City Beach and Lynn Haven gathered together with local business owners and the public for the monthly meeting on Tuesday.
“We have a lot of fun,” Sheriff Frank McKeithen said.
He said working in law enforcement is a stressful job, and the meeting is a good way to talk about serious issues in a different environment.