The California Highway Patrol has dedicated organized retail theft teams in Orange County, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area, which work with retailers to combat retail crime throughout the state. This month, Governor Newsom signed landmark legislation to strengthen California’s retail theft and property crime laws, including bills to maintain important organized retail crime statutes and the task force, authorization for which would have expired in 2026. Since January, the task force has made 884 arrests and seized nearly a quarter of a million stolen goods valued at more than $7.2 million. 

Last week, the task force announced the results of the following operations: 

Following a month-long investigation of a criminal network in the Bay Area, the task force recovered over $450,000 in stolen merchandise found at an Oakland residence and an Oakland storage facility. The operation uncovered suspects involved in an illegal fencing scheme targeting drug stores. The team announced the arrest of the leader of the operation, who was charged with multiple felonies, including organized retail crime, possession of stolen property, and conspiracy to commit a crime.