Late last month, the Los Angeles Police Department seized around $5 million worth of Nike products from a warehouse in Hawthorne, California, after the items were suspected to be connected to a theft ring. Now, we're learning more about how the alleged thieves allegedly operated their elaborate scheme.
New details gathered by the Los Angeles Times revealed that the operation is charged with stealing more than $2 million worth of Nike items since June 2023.
According to the LAPD detectives overseeing this case, suspects exploited various loopholes in Nike's supply chain. It starts at the Swoosh's distribution hub in Memphis, where the criminals were able to print fake shipping labels by paying UPS and Nike employees to intentionally redirect products across LA. On Jan. 10, Nike employees that were working in the Memphis facility found 10 shoe cartons that had pre-addressed mailing labels to be shipped by UPS. Detectives say that members of the theft ring would intercept these packages, including at docks, highways, and warehouses.
So far, only one arrest has been made in connection with the case, which was 37-year-old Roy Lee Harvey, Jr., as reported last month. According to the Times, detectives discovered that the ring led back to Harvey Jr. after one shipment of the diverted sneakers was being delivered to RHJ Global Kicks, a company registered to Harvey Jr. in May 2020.
Harvey Jr. had been seen delivering items to resale shop Project Blitz; the resell company and its owner, Andre Ljustina, are not facing charges in connection with the case.
