“You’ve seen the videos of brazen smash and grabs at many different retailers across the country,” ABC correspondent Erielle Reshef noted at the top of her Thursday report for Good Morning America. But as she highlighted the growing threat to the safety of retail workers and the links to drug cartels and international terrorism, Reshef refused to entertain any explanation as to why these criminals were so emboldened: progressive district attorneys not prosecuting crime.
“Retailers we talked to are losing billions of dollars to organized retail crime. And authorities are warning that this has become an absolute threat to public safety, with violent gangs, dangerous international crime rings, and even groups with suspected ties to terrorism increasingly getting involved,” she warned viewers.
To show how big a threat this was to the country, Reshef spoke with Raul Aguilar, the deputy assistant director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Financial & Fraud Division. And he painted a dire picture:
AGUILAR: It’s an absolute threat.
(…)
RESHEF: Homeland Security officials tell ABC News they now see violent gangs and dangerous international groups getting involved. Organizations suspected of ties to drug trafficking or even terrorism financing.
AGUILAR: These criminal networks, they may be full-time drug traffickers that see an opportunity to work with a crew that's already stealing.
The closest ABC came to allowing an explanation as to why these thefts could happen was a soundbite of Aguilar stating that “the profitability is the key here.”
Last month, ABC gawked at this same trying organized retail crime and the stores that were forced to shudder because of it, particularly in very liberal San Francisco.
Back on Thursday, Reshef noted that this kind of theft was so prolific that it was “forcing the average family to pay an estimated $500 more each year on goods” as retailers try to make up for the lost revenue.
She also traveled to Atlanta, Georgia to speak with a couple of Home Depot officials to see what anti-theft measures they had to install. “[A]bout a third of our losses from theft and fraud's perspective come from power tools particularly,” an unnamed official explained. “You can see that we’ve had to put a barrier between the bad actors and the product.”
That same official told Reshef that pandemic-era measures like wearing masks “emboldened some people” since they didn’t need to show their faces.
Reshef more or less shrugged at how these new measures were an inconvenience to law-abiding shoppers. “And Home Depot acknowledges that these measures can create a barrier between the products and customers and a temporary inconvenience, but ultimately they say they helped save more than $1 million at just that Georgia store in one year,” she concluded, teasing a Nightline special on it.
ABC’s refusal to mention progressive Das was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from CarMax and Colgate. Their contact information is linked.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s Good Morning America
June 1, 2023
7:42:11 a.m. EasternGEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Back now with a new warning about a surge in organized retail crime. Stores are losing big money, raising prices to cover it. And the greatest cost could be to the safety of workers. Ariel Reshef here with the details. Good morning, Ariel.
ERIELLE RESHEF: Good morning to you George. Retailers we talked to are losing billions of dollars to organized retail crime. And authorities are warning that this has become an absolute threat to public safety, with violent gangs, dangerous international crime rings, and even groups with suspected ties to terrorism increasingly getting involved.
[Cuts to video]
You’ve seen the videos of brazen smash and grabs at many different retailers across the country. And federal authorities are now sounding the alarm about coordinated robberies like these.
RAUL AGUILAR (deputy asst. director, Financial & Fraud Division, DHS): It’s an absolute threat.
RESHEF: It's called organized retail crime, where groups of criminals steal high-value items to sell online or elsewhere.
AGUILAR: They know what stores to hit and where. Obviously, the profitability is the key here.
RESHEF: Retailers say this type of crime is reaching unprecedented levels, forcing the average family to pay an estimated $500 more each year on goods.
Are you seeing a dramatic rise in this type of crime?
UNIDENTIFIED HOME DEPOT OFFICIAL 1: Absolutely. It's growing double digit, year over year.
RESHEF: Homeland Security officials tell ABC News they now see violent gangs and dangerous international groups getting involved. Organizations suspected of ties to drug trafficking or even terrorism financing.
AGUILAR: These criminal networks, they may be full time drug traffickers that see an opportunity to work with a crew that's already stealing.
RESHEF: Big box retailers like the Home Depot, have been hit especially hard, investigating hundreds of cases and losing billions of dollars this past year alone.
UNIDENTIFIED HOME DEPOT OFFICIAL 1: This is what we refer to our billion dollar aisles. Billions and billions of sales of this product. And then about a third of our losses from theft and fraud's perspective come from power tools particularly.
RESHEF: Why do you believe you have seen such an uptick?
UNIDENTIFIED HOME DEPOT OFFICIAL 1: Pandemic aside, which kind of emboldened some people wearing masks [Transition] There’s the online proliferation. About 90 percent of our organized retail crime cases involve some type of online selling platform. [Transition] Opioids and fentanyl continuing to drive the need for fast cash.
RESHEF: But worrying these stores even more, they say thieves are growing more and more violent, threatening employees with guns, knives, even a hammer. Home Depot says it’s taking steps to protect its workers and fight growing organized retail crime, showing us new measures they're testing in this store outside Atlanta. Alarmed Gates, increased surveillance, and locking up merchandise.
How much is a spool like that worth?
UNIDENTIFIED HOME DEPOT OFFICIAL 2: Anywhere from $1,000 up to upward of about $3,500.
RESHEF: How much do you think one of these spools weighs?
UNIDENTIFIED HOME DEPOT OFFICIAL 2: Probably close to 500, 800 pounds. They are rolling it out, throw it in the back of a pickup truck or trunk of a car and speeding away.
UNIDENTIFIED HOME DEPOT OFFICIAL 1: You can see that we’ve had to put a barrier between the bad actors and the product.
RESHEF: But is it working?
UNIDENTIFIED HOME DEPOT OFFICIAL 1: It's definitely working.
[Cuts back to live]
RESHEF: And Home Depot acknowledges that these measures can create a barrier between the products and customers and a temporary inconvenience, but ultimately they say they helped save more than $1 million at just that Georgia store in one year. We'll have much more on our in-depth look at organized retail crime coming up tonight on Nightline. Guys.
