Air Fryers, Self-Tanner: Cops Seize Stolen Booty Bound for Web.

Police in Southern California raided a warehouse suspected of housing stolen merchandise that would have likely been sold on online marketplaces like Amazon. The raid was part of an effort to combat the increasing wave of cargo truck thefts, which have caused significant losses for the retail, logistics, and insurance industries. Cargo theft is a less visible form of theft compared to shoplifting, and California, Texas, and Illinois are hotspots for this type of crime. The raid aimed to shut down a "fence," where stolen goods are sold in bulk to other criminals who then sell them online or in stores. The police found pallets of inventory, including pet food, nutritional supplements, vacuum cleaners, air fryers, and self-tanner. Cargo theft is difficult to solve because it is challenging to prove that the merchandise was stolen unless thieves are caught in the act. Criminals have become more sophisticated, using stolen identities to impersonate legitimate trucking companies and covering their tracks. The value of stolen merchandise in the first quarter of this year was $73 million, more than triple the losses from the previous year. [Extracted from the article]