Seattle officers, federal agents confiscate thousands of items during retail theft investigation

A man was arrested and thousands of items were confiscated as part of an investigation into organized retail theft.

Seattle Police detectives arrested the suspect last Thursday at a north Beacon Hill home after a long investigation led by Homeland Security Investigations.

The 55-year-old man is suspected of buying stolen goods and then selling them out of a Rainier Valley business.

About 3,000 items of suspected stolen retail merchandise were recovered after SPD detectives and agents from HSI and U.S. Customs and Border Protection served search warrants at a home in the 1500 block of 17th Avenue South, and a business in the 7300 block of Rainier Avenue South.

Alcohol, small electronics, clothes, health and beauty products and over-the-counter drugs were among the items.

The suspect was booked into the King County Jail for trafficking in stolen property.