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ORC & Cartels?
Cartel-Linked Activity in Organized Retail Crime: What the Record Shows

By the D&D Daily staff

Organized retail crime (ORC) is most commonly associated with domestic theft crews and fencing networks. However, federal authorities have confirmed that in certain investigations, transnational criminal organizations — including groups with cartel ties — have intersected with retail theft operations.

Officials with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), a division of Department of Homeland Security, have publicly acknowledged active investigations examining links between Mexican-based criminal organizations and organized retail theft groups. These statements indicate that cartel-affiliated actors have appeared in specific ORC cases.

Importantly, law enforcement descriptions do not suggest that major cartels broadly control organized retail crime in the United States. Rather, the connections identified tend to surface in particular networks where retail theft activity intersects with larger transnational criminal infrastructure.

In documented cases, the overlap has most often involved financial and logistical components. For example, investigators have alleged that proceeds from large-scale retail theft were funneled through money laundering channels also used by broader criminal enterprises. These laundering mechanisms may include structured deposits, shell entities or cross-border transfers.

Federal prosecutors have also described situations where individuals associated with transnational groups participated in multi-state theft rings targeting high-demand merchandise such as over-the-counter medications, health and beauty products, baby formula and tools. In some investigations, authorities pointed to organized distribution systems and cross-border coordination as indicators of more sophisticated criminal involvement.

The Department of Justice has pursued cases in which ORC activity overlapped with other criminal conduct, including narcotics trafficking and financial crimes. Similarly, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) classifies organized retail theft within broader transnational organized crime frameworks when evidence supports that connection.

However, federal agencies have not publicly characterized cartel involvement as the primary driver of ORC nationwide. Most prosecuted ORC cases continue to involve domestic networks operating independently of cartel command structures.

For retail loss-prevention professionals, the takeaway is nuanced: while cartel-linked actors have surfaced in specific ORC investigations, those cases represent targeted enforcement actions rather than systemic control of the retail theft landscape. The documented intersections typically occur at the financing, laundering or distribution stages, underscoring the importance of coordinated intelligence-sharing between retailers and multi-agency task forces when large-scale, cross-jurisdictional theft patterns emerge.


'Shopping in a Prison'
Walmart and Target Are Locking Up Toothpaste in Some Stores
Across parts of the country, retailers have expanded the use of locked cabinets and security measures in stores they say are experiencing high levels of theft. While not every location is affected, in some areas customers now have to press a button and wait for an employee just to grab basic household essentials.

On social media, frustrated shoppers have described the experience as inconvenient, slow and, in some cases, “like shopping in a prison.” Retailers say the changes are tied to rising theft and what the industry calls “shrink” — inventory lost to shoplifting, organized retail crime and other factors.

It’s important to note: not all Walmart, Target or CVS locations lock up toothpaste. These measures are typically implemented store-by-store based on local conditions. But in areas where security cases are in place, shoppers say the inconvenience adds up — especially for parents grabbing baby formula or customers making quick errands.

Some customers argue the extra steps slow down shopping and increase wait times if employees are stretched thin. Others say they understand the reasoning but wish there were better solutions.

Retail chains maintain that the goal is to protect merchandise while keeping stores open and accessible. Industry groups say organized retail theft has become more coordinated in recent years, prompting stores to experiment with more visible security measures.

Whether these locked cabinets remain temporary or become more common nationwide remains to be seen. But for now, in certain communities, buying toothpaste isn’t quite as simple as it used to be. aol.com


Cracking Down on Stolen Good Buyers
Arresting drug users is a start — but what about the buyers of stolen goods?
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie’s decision to authorize police to arrest people who use drugs in public and send them to RESET Centers instead of jail is a meaningful shift in policy.

But if the city is serious about restoring safety and dignity to our neighborhoods, especially in places like 16th Street and Mission and 24th Street and Mission, this policy cannot stop with drug users alone. The deterioration we see every day in these plazas is not driven only by people consuming drugs. It is driven by an informal street economy built around stolen goods — and the buyers who keep that market alive.

Residents and merchants know the pattern well. The same individuals gather day after day, laying out cosmetics, detergent, toothpaste, liquor and packaged food stolen from nearby stores. Police patrol cars may sit in the plaza during the day, but once officers leave, the market reappears. The sellers change spots. The buyers come back. The cycle continues.

We talk endlessly about “retail theft rings” and “organized shoplifting,” but on the ground, what sustains this economy is not only the thief — it is the customer. Every person who buys stolen merchandise for a discount becomes part of the problem. Yet buyers of stolen goods are rarely targeted with the same urgency as drug users, dealers, or the unhoused. The message, intentional or not, is that buying stolen property is a minor offense, a harmless bargain hunt. It is not. It fuels theft, hurts small businesses, raises prices for honest customers, and keeps people trapped in cycles of crime and addiction.

If we can change the enforcement culture around public drug use, we can change it around fencing stolen goods. The law already makes it illegal to buy stolen property. The problem is not the lack of statutes; it is the lack of consistent enforcement. Buyers in known fencing hotspots should face immediate consequences, just as public drug users will now face arrest and referral to treatment. Without demand, the street market collapses. elreporterosf.com


Retailers Continue to Grapple with Theft
Retail theft, shoplifting hit CVS, Walmart, Home Depot, and more

From organized retail crime to everyday shoplifting, theft remains a costly and debated problem for retailers.

While people debate exactly how much crime has been committed against retailers and exactly who’s committing it, the numbers remain stark.

“Retailers reported an 18% increase in the average number of shoplifting incidents per year in 2024 versus 2023, and threats or acts of violence during shoplifting or theft events increased 17% during that same time period, indicating that criminal enterprises are becoming more brazen and dangerous,” according to a recent study released by the National Retail Federation and the Loss Prevention Research Council, The Impact of Theft & Violence 2025.

Theft has become a charged political issue, but the debate over whether people are shoplifting on their own or working as part of an organized crime ring does not make the theft any less real.

Now, a new wave of thefts has impacted a variety of retailers across the country. Not all crime is ORC. Shoplifting remains a problem, but many reports focus on ORC because of its larger scale.

“ORC is global in scope, with 67% of retailers reporting the involvement of a transnational ORC group in thefts against their company during the past year. Limited law enforcement and retail asset protection resources and lack of prosecutors’ willingness to prosecute are the top three reasons impacting retailers’ ability to investigate or prosecute ORC activities,” according to the NRF. thestreet.com


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