Miami Police find nearly $1M worth of drugs, stolen merchandise in retail theft ring

Police dismantled an organized theft ring in a northwest Miami-Dade neighborhood Wednesday, where they found nearly $1 million worth of suspected stolen items along with drugs, guns and money.

Police took box after box and even wagons full of stuff from a home located at the corner of Northwest 24th Avenue and Northwest 15th Street.

“This guy right here is absolutely a real-life Grinch,” said Chief Manny Morales.

So many items were pulled from the home that it filled a truck to the brim, and it wasn’t even all of it.

The unassuming duplex in the residential area functioned more like the neighborhood store, according to police, except what it sold were drugs and thousands of items stolen from retailers.

“We're talking anywhere from hundreds of drills, impact windows, large quantities of liquor and alcohol, even frozen foods,” Morales said. “It looks like a store — he's got shelves, the rooms are separated. He's got one room for power tools, he's got one room for alcohol, he's got one room for over-the-counter medication.”

A narcotics-related warrant led investigators to the home Wednesday afternoon. Morales called it an organized theft ring.

“They would bring all the stolen retail property here and they would exchange it for narcotics,” he said.

One neighbor said around 1 p.m. he saw police take two people away in handcuffs. Officials said they arrested one man.

According to Morales, aside from the stolen merchandise and drugs, police also found guns and large sums of money.

Morales said crimes like these end up impacting everyone.

“This is an organized retail theft ring that impacted all of us by driving up prices,” he said.

On Thursday, police identified the man arrested as 59-year-old Leonardo Ruiz. He is facing a number of charges.

The Miami Police Department is also working with retail stores such as Home Depot, TJ Maxx and CVS Pharmacy, to help recover items via bar codes.