POLK COUNTY, Fla. — Polk County authorities said an undercover investigation busted three businesses that were buying stolen merchandise to resell in their stores.
Detectives said they even arrested a man who resold meat from local grocery stores.
Five people were arrested as part of the two-month-long investigation called Operation Not So Lucky.
"We will continue to do these undercover operations. Let the word go forth: Unless you want to be not-so-lucky, don't buy property that's reported to you as stolen," said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.
Mohammed Eid, Caesar Pugh, Ashraf Reza, Marwan Samhan and Talal Saman were arrested.
Two of the stores are in Lake Whales, and the third is in Lakeland.
Investigators said Pugh, also known as "the Meat Man," would go to stores and stuff stolen beef down his pants and then hawk it on the street out of a cooler.
"He's going to have USDA-inspected meat in the county jail, but not as much as he would like to have for fear he would stuff it in that orange uniform and sell it on the outside," said Judd.
Some of the other stolen products being sold for pennies on the dollar were health and beauty products, counterfeit handbags and stolen electronic benefit transfer cards with the personal identification numbers, investigators said.
The suspects were booked into the Polk County Jail.
WFTV
