BETTENDORF, Iowa (AP) - What started out as a shoplifting arrest has led police to a national theft ring that reached as far away as California and Texas.
Rosaura Amparo Jaramillo-Martinez, Gladys Icaza Peterson and Arnaldo Javier Garcia now face federal charges of interstate transportation of stolen property.
The case stems from an April shoplifting incident at a local Walgreen's store.
Jaramillo-Martinez admitted to stealing nine boxes of medicine from the store, court records said.
A search of a van Jaramillo-Martinez and another person were in turned up $10,000 in over-the-counter medicine stuffed into a garbage bag. The drugs were later found to be stolen from stores in Moline, Ill., East Moline, Ill., and Rock Island, Ill., records show.
Police also found five receipts for items mailed from Johnston, Iowa, to Houston, Texas. The items were intercepted in Houston and inside the packages police found thousands of dollars of medications, records show.
The three also are charged with shipping unspecified stolen property from California to Texas in March, as well as making the shipment from Johnston, documents show.
