Illinois Police Bust Major Theft Ring Recovering $250,000 In Goods

Congratulations to the police in Illinois for conducting a huge bust that recovered thousands of dollars in stolen merchandise.

Major Police Sting In Illinois Recovers $250,000 In Stolen Goods

I enjoy watching mafia movies. Some of the films are taken from real-life stories, but they are exaggerated for the big screen. When I first heard about this crime, the thought that popped immediately into my head was the flick, "Goodfellas." There's no way it's true, but it did actually happen.

READ MORE: Illinois Police Arrest Man With Seventy-One Stolen Appliances

Illinois police were getting reports of merchandise being stolen from freight trains and semi-trucks. We're talking high-end items like hunting apparel, boots, sneakers, and much more from stores including Macy's, Sitka, Nike, Puma, Nordstrom, Bissell, Skytech, and others.

During the investigation, the police found the same exact merchandise that was reported stolen for sale on the internet. They set up a sting to purchase the "hot" goods, and once they had enough evidence, the officers made the just.

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According to Fox 32 Chicago...

A Palos Heights man is accused of stealing and reselling freight merchandise worth about $250,000, police said.

 

Investigators traced stolen Sitka boots and other goods to 20-year-old Almahdi Qasem through online sales and undercover purchases.

 

Search warrants turned up large amounts of stolen property, and Qasem now faces felony theft charges with more counts expected.

After they made the arrest and recovered a lot of the stolen merchandise, the cops confiscated cars, cash, and bank accounts, too. They found many of the items at his home and in a rented storage locker.