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LAPD officers: Tobacco theft ring arrested Millions of dollars involved By Ryan Oliver Staff Writer Five members of an organized crime ring were arrested Wednesday in connection with millions of dollars worth of cigarettes and cigars stolen primarily from the San Fernando Valley, officials said. Los Angeles police said they believe the suspects are connected with 30 burglaries of tobacco wholesalers and retailers in the Valley and in the Harbor area during the past year. "We have the ringleader," said Lt. Harold Hall with Los Angeles Police Department's Commercial Crimes Division shortly after the arrests. "They have definitely been prolific as far as burglaries are concerned." The suspects were all together when LAPD SWAT officers raided a business in El Monte and took them into custody on suspicion of receiving stolen property. Police were withholding the names of the suspects and the business Wednesday night. Hall said they were part of an Armenian crime organization, and said it was unclear if the men arrested actually carried out the burglaries or if they were responsible for selling the cigarettes others had stolen. Other members of the ring are still believed to be at large, he said. "We don't know who they were selling to," Hall said. "The amount involved is in the millions." The bounty also included lighters, pipes, wrappers and other tobacco products, he said. The thieves operated by punching small holes in the roofs of cigarette retailers and wholesale warehouses in order to get inside. There, they would survey the merchandise, disable alarm systems and open the doors. In an incident earlier this month, detectives believe the thieves used a pair of tractor-trailers to escape with pallets full of tobacco products from a warehouse in Sylmar. Two forklifts were also stolen from the warehouse floor. Hall said there was no evidence the men are connected with a rash of jewelry store burglaries in the San Fernando Valley, as the department had previously believed. ----------------------- Stolen Cigars and Illegal Tax Stamps (and this guy is out of jail!)