Thieves steal more than $12,000 in MAKEUP from Seattle stores – as police blame the theft on the the Romanian crime ring which ‘ships the products across state lines to be sold for pennies on the dollar’

Officials in Washington arrested two people believed to be members of an organized theft ring and seized thousands of dollars worth of stolen cosmetics.

Lynnwood Police Department officers responded to calls about a theft that occurred Feb. 1 at a makeup store on Alderwood Mall Parkway.

Upon arrival, they were told by a ‘loss prevention employee’ that the two suspects were stealing make-up products.

The employee was able to confirm that the suspects were the same people involved in another makeup theft on January 31.

Officials were soon able to take the suspects and their vehicle into custody and discovered more than $12,000 worth of stolen cosmetics.

Police have not released the names of the suspects.

Photos shared by police on social media show a huge pile of products, including eyeliners, mascaras, face powders and a Sol de Janeiro spray.

Photos shared by police on social media show a huge pile of products, including eyeliners, mascaras, face powders and a Sol de Janeiro spray.

The department believes the thieves are members of a Romanian organized traveling crime ring and that the products are being shipped across state lines to be sold for pennies on the dollar.

One of the suspects was charged and jailed for first-degree organized retail theft and the other thief, a minor, was released to their parents/guardian.

According to local newsthe suspects first raided a Kohl’s in Lynnwood City Center in January and then were arrested in February after stealing from a Sephora in Alderwood Mall.

According to local news, the suspects first raided a Kohl’s in Lynnwood City Center in January and were then arrested in February after stealing from a Sephora in Alderwood Mall (pictured)

The department believes the thieves are members of a Romani organized crime ring and that the products are being shipped across state lines to be sold for pennies on the dollar.

According to the Washington ExaminerFederal investigators have linked major retail theft incidents to criminal organizations in Europe and South America.

Michael J. Krol, a special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations, said in testimony that one such group is the Romanian Organized Theft Group, or ROTG.

The group is suspected of sending non-US citizens into the country for the sole purpose of stealing.

“A recent HSI investigation in Missouri uncovered an ROTG, composed of previously deported individuals, transferring illicit proceeds to Romania and other international destinations,” the agent said.

The city of Lynnwood is part of the Seattle Metropolitan Area and is located 26 miles north of Seattle.

This comes a few months after a CVS pharmacy in Washington DC made headlines for replacing almost all of its inventory with photos to combat rampant shoplifting.

Customers must press a button to ask staff to retrieve products from storage in a dystopian attempt to combat rampant shoplifting

Desolate shelves greet visitors to DC’s CVS, which is routinely cleared out by shoplifting kids on their way to or from school

In October 2023, framed images of items such as toilet paper and kitchen towels standing in for the real products went viral. X.

Customers were asked to ask the staff to remove the products from storage at the touch of a button.

Conservative commentator Joey Mannarino, who shared the images, wrote at the time: “This is how we live in America now? This is the third world!’

The strategy was fueled by the routine looting carried out at another CVS in Washington DC.

Shocking images had emerged of entire shelves cleared by gangs of children, who at the time reportedly targeted the store every day.

“If you walk into this CVS, you would think the store is closing because there is hardly anything on the shelves,” Fox 5 reporter Sierra Fox told viewers.

She added that only a lone guard was stationed there at the time, who was no match for the dozens of lawless teenagers.

Due to the routine shoplifting that occurs across the country, data is out CapitalOne research Estimated stores had lost $86.6 billion to shoplifting by 2022 and predicted that shoplifting could cost stores more than $115 billion by 2025.