SAN DIEGO — One single tip led to the recovery of $50 million in stolen goods. Five million dollars worth of merchandise was recovered on Thursday alone.
It was the result of a year long investigation by the California Highway Patrol that ended with more than 40 people in custody, all believed to be part of an organized retail theft ring.
We are talking about entire truckloads full of your purchases. So if your Amazon order never arrived, or maybe you blamed the Post Office, it may have actually been a sophisticated criminal operation.
It was given the code name, Operation Overloaded.
"We got the head of the snake," CHP Captain Charles Leonard said.
Captain Leonard added, "There's really no rhyme or reason to who they're targeting. If there's an opportunity, they were taking it."
Entire semis were hijacked across the state of California. Major retailers were also among the victims. The more than 40 suspects now facing felony charges are believed to be responsible for stealing five to seven cargo loads each and every week - that's valued at more than $150 million.
"As you can imagine, there are thousands of loads going all day. To keep up with the inventory, sometimes they don't find out a truck has been missing, for a few days," Captain Leonard said.
CHP says not a single truck driver was held at gunpoint. More typically, in the dark of the night -- the entire truck was taken from a processing station. "They take a truck they steal and within minutes, they will have a location that's set up to unload it, put it in other trucks, that are taking the product elsewhere."
In addition to really anything and everything we all buy - 15 stolen trailers, 20 cargo trailers, ten firearms, including ghost guns and $550,000 in cash were all recovered. What wasn't, had already been sold on the black market.
"Their profit margins, when they didn't pay for it, they can sell it at such a reduced price. Sometimes by the time we would catch up with the cargo load, it had been sold - it just goes that quick," Captain Leonard said.
Additional arrests are expected.
We are told Operation Overloaded took surveillance teams, undercover officers, search warrants and dedication.
"We were able to have successful operations like yesterday, go off without a hitch. I must give it to my guys, that's how professional they are," Captain Leonard said.
Governor Gavin Newsom is also praising their efforts and vowing to continue to invest in law enforcement efforts.
Now comes the difficult task of getting these items back to the rightful owner.
WATCH RELATED: Historic plaque stolen from Mission San Diego in Grantville: