A Surrey man is one of three delivery drivers arrested after the Burnaby RCMP investigated reports of Amazon drivers stealing packages.
“In each of the three cases, the driver was accused of stealing the packages they were meant to be delivering and then attempting to sell the items online,” Cpl. Mike Kalanj of the Burnaby RCMP said. “There is nothing to indicate the three incidents are linked.”
The names of the accused have not been released, pending charge approval.
On November 22, the Burnaby RCMP’s Prolific Offender Suppression Team (POST) executed a search warrant at the Surrey driver’s residence. “The suspect, a 26-year-old man, now faces six counts of theft which have been forwarded to the BC Prosecution Service for consideration of charges,” Kalanj said.
The other two suspects are Vancouver men. In the first case, Burnaby Mounties received a report on Sept. 10 that an Amazon driver was stealing packages and selling them online. Police armed with a search warrant seized 32 packages worth roughly $2,200 from the 28-year-old man’s Vancouver residence, Kalanj said.
Most recently, the Burnaby RCMP received a third report on Nov. 28 concerning an Amazon driver stealing packages. Following a search of a Vancouver residence, police arrested a 25-year-old man.
“Three counts of theft are expected to be forwarded to the BC Prosecution Service for consideration of charges,” Kalanj said. “The items stolen include everything from a $627 men’s watch to a $35.00 Apple airtag. In each case, police credit Amazon, which has a warehouse in Burnaby, for proactively identifying possible thefts and contacting Burnaby RCMP to report them.”
The corporal said that it’s unusual to encounter this kind of theft, “let alone a pattern of separate incidents, as safeguards and security measures put in place by these types of businesses are often an effective deterrent. In all three of these cases, information gathered by Amazon was key in the investigation and the recovery of the goods.”