Conventional retail loss prevention practices do not have a significant deterrence with the experienced professional criminal. A key to controlling the activity of the organized theft rings is to shut down the means they use to dispose of the stolen merchandise. The proliferation of flea market vendors selling stolen merchandise is a particular problem area. Police officers, acting on information from a retailer, established that the flea market vendor was openly selling merchandise stolen through a series of professional theft occurrences. The criminal enterprise involved was determined to be multi-faceted with linkages to the fencing of stolen property and to the funding of illegal drug operations.
Retailers expect to operate their businesses on a level playing field.
They find it extremely difficult to remain competitive while unscrupulous individuals sell stolen merchandise. Smaller retailers are even more impacted by these events. In the end, the cost for these illegal practices is borne by the retail customer in terms of higher prices. While organized theft rings occur primarily in large urban centers, stolen merchandise is often shipped to other locations for sale. During the investigation that led to Nova Scotia's Bill 30, police and retail investigators determined that merchandise stolen in the GTA was being shipped to the Halifax area for distribution at flea markets.