LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Las Vegas police released photos Monday showing the spoils of an alleged fencing operation busted earlier this month. The Nov. 17 bust resulted in at least three arrests and the recovery of stolen property valued anywhere from $500,000 to $1 million, police said.
The stolen property was unloaded by police into a warehouse at an undisclosed location where around two dozen retail representatives could sort through the items to reclaim them and help police identify the true value of the stolen goods.
Jose Campos Rodriguez, Jose Morales Casas, and Jose Reyes were arrested on Nov. 17 for participating in organized retail theft and buying, possessing, and receiving stolen property. Las Vegas Metropolitan police said the men had been acting as a fencing operation for several months, and possibly several years. According to the report, they were allegedly buying from the same people on a daily basis for more than two years.
According to the arrest report, “Every room in the house was filled floor to ceiling with property.”
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sgt. Patrick Flynn said not only do retailers get some of their stolen property back, but the bust also has another impact.
“Now that the boosters don’t have a location to bring their stolen property to, they’ll be able to see for several months a drop in their shrink or in their theft from their individual stores.”
Flynn said some of the property is from other thefts including residential burglaries.
Items that cannot be returned or claimed will be sent to the LVMPD evidence vault for safekeeping.