In Hawthorne, California, authorities seized $5 million of Nike products from a warehouse suspected of being tied to a theft ring.
According to The Los Angeles Times, the operation is accused of stealing over $2 million worth of Nike items since June 2023.
Police reveal that the suspects exploited weaknesses in Nike’s supply chain, beginning their operation at the Memphis distribution hub. They crafted fake shipping labels by paying UPS and Nike employees to redirect products across Los Angeles deliberately.
Nike workers found ten shoe cartons with pre-addressed UPS labels in Memphis on January 10. Detectives report that the theft ring intercepted these packages at docks, highways, and warehouses.
Last month, LAPD arrested 37-year-old Roy Lee Harvey, Jr., connecting him to the ring as a shipment of diverted sneakers was en route to RHJ Global Kicks, a company registered to him in May 2020.
According to retorts, Harvey Jr. was spotted delivering items to the resale store Project Blitz.
Neither the resale company nor its owner, Andre Ljustina, are facing charges in connection with the case.
