Stolen baby formula, designer clothes seized by Vancouver police in months-long crackdown

The stolen goods ranged from designer clothing and electronics to over-the-counter pain medicine and baby formula, Vancouver police said. (CTV News)

Vancouver police say officers have arrested five people and seized more than $650,000 in cash, drugs and property during a months-long crackdown targeting organized criminals who buy and sell stolen merchandise in the city's Downtown Eastside.

The seized goods ranged from designer clothing and electronics to over-the-counter pain medicine and baby formula, which investigators tracked from the sidewalks of the city's poorest neighbourhood to homes in East Vancouver.

Vancouver police Insp. Mario Mastropieri said in a statement Thursday that organized criminals are recruiting "desperate and drug-addicted" residents of the Downtown Eastside to steal from stores in exchange for a fraction of the merchandise's value.

The stolen goods are then sold online at a significant profit, he said.

Beginning in March, investigators say a man and a woman in their 60s were seen buying stolen property on East Hastings Street. The property was tracked to a home on East Georgia Street in the city's Strathcona neighbourhood, where a search allegedly turned up a trove of stolen goods worth an estimated $150,000.

The pair was arrested for possession of stolen property and $155,000 in cash was also seized, according to police.

In April, police reportedly witnessed another couple buying stolen goods near East Hastings and Carrall streets. Further investigation led officers to homes in the Kensington-Cedar Cottage and Hastings-Sunrise areas.

A man in his 40s and woman in her 50s were arrested and police seized $233,000 in stolen toiletries, electronics, vitamins, alcohol and other goods, as well as two vehicles.

Last month, investigators executed search warrants at a Nanaimo Street home near Trout Lake Park after a 52-year-old woman was reportedly buying stolen property in the Downtown Eastside.

Police seized a car and an estimated $107,000 in stolen cosmetics, clothing, designer purses, vitamins and alcohol. Investigators also uncovered approximately $10,000 in cocaine and fentanyl, the department said.

The woman was arrested and faces charges of possession of stolen property, as well as possible drug charges, according to investigators.

"The shoplifting epidemic is fueling an illicit market for stolen property that impacts small businesses, employees, and consumers," Mastropieri said.

"Much of that illicit market runs straight through the Downtown Eastside, where stolen property is bought and sold in plain sight, then resold for profit online."

The inspector said criminals have been earning "thousands of dollars a week" in the underground economy of reselling stolen goods online.

"These were complex and lengthy investigations that involved dozens of skilled front-line officers and specialized investigators," Insp. Mike Kim of the VPD’s Identify Theft and Anti-Fencing Unit said in a statement.

"In each of these cases, we believe criminals knowingly bought stolen property on East Hastings Street and drove it to their homes with the intention of selling it online."

The arrests were part of the latest phase of the Vancouver Police Department's Project Barcode, which began in February 2023 to combat shoplifting in the city. The department says it has made 1,200 arrests and recovered $1.4 million in stolen property since the project began.