A Whittier business owner was arrested after allegedly selling $1 million worth of goods that had been stolen from large cargo shipments, the Los Angeles Police Department said Tuesday.
When investigators executed a search warrant at Shoes n Shoes on Slauson Avenue on Sept. 30, they found a variety of items inside 59 pallets that had been stolen from freight shipments along the Union Pacific Railroad and Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway.
Some of the stolen goods included Yeti cups and jugs, as well as Nike, New Balance, Brooks and Sanuk shoes, according to the LAPD.
The business owner, Wassem Saman, admitted to police that he had purchased much of his inventory from brokers or middlemen who illegally distribute stolen merchandise.
Saman, 45, of Placentia, was booked on suspicion of receiving stolen property.
The LAPD said the arrest was made possible through a multi-agency operation involving the Union Pacific Railroad Police, Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Police, Alameda Belt Line Police, Los Angeles Port Police and the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigation.
Anyone with more information was urged to contact the LAPD’s Commercial Crimes Division at (213) 486-8766.