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conuly
Baby formula a popular target for shoplifters
Baby formula has become a big target for Twin Cities shoplifters, who resell it on the black market, say law enforcement officials and an expert on organized crime.
The formula is sold cut-rate to unscrupulous shopkeepers - who get reimbursed by the federal government for much of the formula they sell - and may be used by drug dealers to cut their product.
"It is a gigantic problem for retailers," said Chuck Miller, a security consultant to national retail trade groups such as the Food Processors Association. "There is a huge market for baby formula."
Authorities said three alleged shoplifters whose flight from a Target store in suburban Woodbury last weekend left three bystanders hospitalized may be part of the ring.
Terry "Domino" Scott, 36, Dennis Ellison, 40, and a 35-year-old third man - all of St. Paul - are all in jail facing charges stemming from Saturday's incident, in which the trio are accused of stealing several dozen cans of formula.
Scott was charged Tuesday in Ramsey County with three counts of criminal vehicular operation in a car crash that happened after the theft. Dennis Ellison faces theft charges in Washington County, and charges are still being decided for the third man.
Each of the men has been charged with stealing baby formula before. State and local records show their involvement in at least six other cases in Ramsey, Washington, Anoka and Dakota counties since 2002.
Miller said Scott and Ellison and the third man fit the profile of "boosters," professional shoplifters who steal formula and other products for a fence, who either sells it up the chain or repackages it. Criminal operations will often strip the expiration dates from the cans and resell them to small retailers, Miller said.
Those retailers make money at both ends, Miller said, because they buy the illegal formula cheap and then get reimbursed from the government at the full rate every time they sell a can. Since 55 percent of the nation's infants receive federal aid, the black market formula trade is extremely lucrative.
Miller said retailers lose roughly $30 billion a year to organized theft.
Large rings have recently been uncovered in Arizona, Washington, Texas, New York and Ohio.
Scott and the third man's most recent caper occurred June 29 in Eagan, when they were arrested and charged with felony theft after allegedly pilfering more than $900 worth of baby formula from a Cub Foods store.
In that case, police said Cub Foods managers called them after watching one of the suspects grab a cart, head for the baby formula, load the cart and leave the building. His accomplice took the cart, and the two then drove off in a green Ford Taurus. They were caught soon afterward, police said.
The whole story is surreal.
Baby formula has become a big target for Twin Cities shoplifters, who resell it on the black market, say law enforcement officials and an expert on organized crime.
The formula is sold cut-rate to unscrupulous shopkeepers - who get reimbursed by the federal government for much of the formula they sell - and may be used by drug dealers to cut their product.
"It is a gigantic problem for retailers," said Chuck Miller, a security consultant to national retail trade groups such as the Food Processors Association. "There is a huge market for baby formula."
Authorities said three alleged shoplifters whose flight from a Target store in suburban Woodbury last weekend left three bystanders hospitalized may be part of the ring.
Terry "Domino" Scott, 36, Dennis Ellison, 40, and a 35-year-old third man - all of St. Paul - are all in jail facing charges stemming from Saturday's incident, in which the trio are accused of stealing several dozen cans of formula.
Scott was charged Tuesday in Ramsey County with three counts of criminal vehicular operation in a car crash that happened after the theft. Dennis Ellison faces theft charges in Washington County, and charges are still being decided for the third man.
Each of the men has been charged with stealing baby formula before. State and local records show their involvement in at least six other cases in Ramsey, Washington, Anoka and Dakota counties since 2002.
Miller said Scott and Ellison and the third man fit the profile of "boosters," professional shoplifters who steal formula and other products for a fence, who either sells it up the chain or repackages it. Criminal operations will often strip the expiration dates from the cans and resell them to small retailers, Miller said.
Those retailers make money at both ends, Miller said, because they buy the illegal formula cheap and then get reimbursed from the government at the full rate every time they sell a can. Since 55 percent of the nation's infants receive federal aid, the black market formula trade is extremely lucrative.
Miller said retailers lose roughly $30 billion a year to organized theft.
Large rings have recently been uncovered in Arizona, Washington, Texas, New York and Ohio.
Scott and the third man's most recent caper occurred June 29 in Eagan, when they were arrested and charged with felony theft after allegedly pilfering more than $900 worth of baby formula from a Cub Foods store.
In that case, police said Cub Foods managers called them after watching one of the suspects grab a cart, head for the baby formula, load the cart and leave the building. His accomplice took the cart, and the two then drove off in a green Ford Taurus. They were caught soon afterward, police said.
The whole story is surreal.
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no subject
Date: 2004-09-22 06:11 pm (UTC)She went on to have 2 other kids...
She's divorced from my mom's best friend's son (former drug addict) and she's cleaned herself up, as well, and has remarried, so things are hopefully better for the kids now. We don't hear from her anymore.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-22 07:10 pm (UTC)