Stolen Plastic Products Found At South El Monte Business

Sheriff's detectives discovered stolen plastic products worth more than $115,000 at two locations, one in South El Monte and another in Lynwood, and arrested eight people on suspicion of receiving stolen property, authorities said Wednesday.

The stolen goods were found Wednesday evening at Broadway Plastics in the 2000 block of Lee Avenue in South El Monte and at a residence in the 3500 block of Virginia Street in Lynwood, said Sgt. Nabeel Mitry of the Los Angeles County sheriff's Industry Station.

The items were located by members of the sheriff's Industrial Plastic Theft Task Force, operating out of the Industry Station, following a lengthy investigation, Mitry said.

At Broadway Plastics, stolen trademarked plastic products were being stowed, ground up and prepared for sale, Mitry said. Investigators found some items intact and others that had already been ground, he said.

Some of the stolen plastic products were being stored at the Lynwood home, Mitry said.

The names of those arrested, six males and two females -- including five family members, two employees and the business owner -- were not immediately released.

Wednesday's arrests follow the recovery by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies in July of approximately $450,000 in stolen plastic pallets and other items from a site in Anaheim. In that case, members of the Industrial Plastic Theft Task Force found the products after serving a search warrant at Socal Plastics in the 1290 block of North Nollwood Circle. Four suspects were arrested at the time, according to the sheriff's department.

Most of the recovered plastics, which were both ground and intact, were pallets, trays, shelves, baskets and collapsible crates from grocery stores, pizza places, bakeries, restaurants, beverage companies and shipping and receiving companies.

At the time, Capt. Mike Claus of the sheriff's Industry Station said more than $5 million in stolen trademark plastic had been recovered over the previous 12 months.

In January 2012, sheriff's investigators arrested four people in connection with the discovery of $250,000 worth of stolen trademarked plastic products at R and P Industries, a South Los Angeles recycling business in the 700 block of East 59th Street.

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