18 Most Common Items Drug Addicts Steal

Drug users come up with some ingenious and crazy ways to make money. Everything from scamming the government for unemployment and food stamps to robbing grandma’s purse. During active addiction, everything is fair game. That’s a terrible thing to say but it’s the truth. Addiction literally hijacks an addict’s brain and sends them into survival mode for more drugs. The most common way drug addicts make money is by boosting.

Boosting is stealing from retail stores and selling the items on the black market for pennies on the dollar. Many addicts steal from grocery stores and retail stores. Then they sell the items to smaller stores, vendors, or pawn shops who are willing to buy the products at a discount. Any item that has resale value in another store is worth money to boosters. Depending on the items stolen, addicts will also sell stolen goods online. Many drug dealers will trade drugs for stolen goods.

Here Are The 18 Most Common Items Drug Addicts Steal:

1. Meats/Fish/Cheese

Packaged meat and fish have become very lucrative items to steal for boosters (people who shoplift regularly). Most stores don’t have security measures in place for meat and fish so the items are easy to steal. The addicts will steal these items and bring them to smaller stores or vendors and sell them for .30¢-.50¢ on the dollar.

A common issue boosters run into is they need to find stores of vendors willing to buy these stolen items immediately before they go bad. 

Cheese has also become a hot commodity. Some kinds are cheese are very expensive and boosters go for these brands and kinds.

There was a local meat market here in Rochester N.Y. that would pay boosters for packages of steak and fish. The boosters would take ten filet’s of steak or haddock and go sell them to this guy for .30¢ .50¢ on the dollar. For years the store owner was making huge profits getting all his meats and fish at a huge discount until he got busted.

2. Tooth Whitening Strips

When new items like teeth whitening strips came out on the market in the early 2000’s they were and still are very popular with consumers. Addicts use this to their advantage right away and steal these items before stores catch on.

3. Laundry Detergent/ Tide Pods

In the past decade, laundry detergent has become a popular item for addicts and boosters to steal. Even though it comes in a big jug it’s something that everyone uses and is relatively expensive.  Things like the tide pods and other pod-type detergents are easier for boosters to steal and they have become the new item of choice to steal.

Many boosters will put a bunch of laundry detergent on the bottom of their cart and go through the checkout line that one of their friends is working at. The cashier (friend) doesn’t scan those items. 4-5 big tide jugs cost around $100. The boosters will try to get .50¢-.60¢ on the dollar for these popular items.

4. Cell Phone Accessories/ Cell Phones

Everyone has a cell phone now and there are more and more accessories coming out daily. Everything from chargers, phone cases, and adapters all have high resale value on the black market. Most stores have a little section with cell phone accessories, even gas stations, and grocery stores. addicts will steal these at every store they go into.

Pawnshops will buy any type of electric item or accessories. Addicts know this and use it to their advantage. Many of the pawnshops will take the items and sell them online to get rid of them quickly.

Phones

Smartphones are so expensive they’re a hot item for addicts and boosters to steal. It’s very hard to steal a phone right from the store because they’re all locked to the display, but people still find ways. Phones are mostly stolen from coffee shops, gyms, and other places where a person might leave their phone unattended for a few minutes.

5. Jewelry/ Sunglasses/ Watches

Jewelry and sunglasses are always big-ticket items for boosters. Jewelry is easy for them to steal because they just put it on and pretend it was their’s from the beginning, Same with sunglasses.

Real jewelry is harder to steal because most stores have it locked up. To beat this security measure, boosters work in teams. One person distracts a salesperson while the other switches the real gold necklace with a fake one. This is a more sophisticated operation that not many addicts are involved in.

Almost any pawn shop will gladly buy gold, silver, and other jewelry. They can melt it down and this allows them to cover their tracks if the cops ever come looking for a specific item.

Watches are harder to steal from a store and many pawnshops are wary of watches because they can be traced. Addicts like to steal watches if they break into a house or someone’s locker at the gym.

6. Designer Handbags / Purses

Just like many other items on this list purses and handbags are some of those things many women carry with them. This makes it easier to steal because it doesn’t look weird if a woman is walking out of a store with a purse.

These items are huge within the black market. There are entire criminal groups that steal and sell nothing but stolen designer handbags and purses.

7. Laptops/ TV’s

You may be thinking how the heck can they steal items like TVs that are so big. Well, it happens and more often than people think. Any electronic item has a higher resale value than other goods, typically because it cost more to start with.

Some boosters are so good because they are blatantly obvious about what they do. Multiple cases have been reported of people walking out of Wal-Mart with a TV that they got from a sales rep in the back and just never paid for. They walk out with an old receipt in their hand acting totally normal. Most of the time the person standing at the door is busy or doesn’t check anyways so they walk out scot-free.

A few years ago 2 guys here in Rochester NY, a man and woman were walking right in the back room of Walmart and getting TVs and walking right out the back door. They worse blue vest to blend in. Apparently, they got away with it 6 times before they were finally caught.

8. Headphones

Headphones are getting more and more sophisticated and expensive. A good pair of Bluetooth headphones are usually above $150. Top of the line pairs goes for $400. Anytime an addict can steal a hot item like this they jump at the opportunity.

9. Video Games/ Camera’s/ Other Electronics

Although most of these electronic items are behind some type of glass or security counter they’re still commonly stolen. Electronics of all types have high resale value especially if they’re brand new. Video games are $50 or above for one game and boosters know this.

More often than not when these items are stolen they are taken from people’s homes. When a burglary occurs the burglar looks for money, jewelry, and electronics to steal. Most burglars will take an x-box, ps4, or any electronic item laying around.

**According to The FBI’s 2017 Crime Stats a burglary occurs every 17 seconds in the US. **

10. Spices

In recent years spices have become a commonly stolen item. Boosters realize this and have added spices to their list in recent years. The reason they like to steal spices is the aisle where spices are stored is in the middle of the supermarket with no extra security.

11. Energy Drinks

If you see someone under 35 in the morning you have a better chance of seeing them with a Redbull than a coffee nowadays. Energy drinks are a hot ticket item for people to steal. Even pawnshops will buy energy drinks from addicts and sell them over the counter or online. 

12. Cigarettes/ Vape’s

Most addicts use tobacco themselves but also know how expensive smokes are in states like NY and California. Here in New York, a pack of cigarettes is over $10. Even though these items are harder to take because they are behind the counter, addicts find ways.

With the huge rise in people who vape, vaping items are a new hot ticket item for boosters. Any and all vaping items and accessories are popular. A little bottle of vape juice costs $20. Boosters will fill their pockets with the pods and juices and get a few hundred dollars from pawn shops.

13. Baby Formula/ Diapers

Anything for babies has resale value and boosters know this. Baby formula, diapers, baby medicine, even baby thermometers, and other medical items all have high resale value. The baby formula usually comes in small packages or jars which is ideal for people looking to steal it.

The added bonus many addicts know is if they can’t find another store to sell the items to, they can sell it directly to someone on the street or a drug dealer. There is always someone who has a baby looking to save some money.

14. Razors/ Razor Blades

Razors and razor blades have been very common items stolen for years and years. Many stores have caught on in the past decade and put extra security around the razor department.  One of the reasons razors are so popular for boosters is because they come in small packages and are expensive in comparison to other items. Wal-Mart stores have special cameras and a locked case for the razors. Even with this extra security these items are still stolen all the time.

One common way razors are still stolen is with inside help. Employees will open the case and leave it unlocked and let their friends know that. Also, they will open it for a customer to give them what they want, but the customer is actually their friend who puts the blades in their pocket and walks out.

15. OTC (Over The Counter) Medications

OTC medications such as Tylenol, Advil, NyQuil, Theraflu, Etc, are commonly stolen from stores. Many stores have tried to cut down on this by putting these medications in the pharmacy area. This allows the pharmacist to keep an eye on them, but this has not stopped the problem.

These OTC medications are usually small packages and sell for reasonably high prices. Boosters also know that the demand for medicine is always going to be high.

16. Clothing

Boosters love stealing clothes because there are so many stores that sell clothes. They’ll go from store to store to store and steal at each one. Many boosters have developed a system of bringing clothes in the changing area and cutting the security tags, then wearing them under their regular clothes.

Many drug dealers will tell boosters what type of clothes they like and have the addicts steal those specific items. The dealer will pay the addict for the clothes with drugs and they look at it as a win-win. They get the drugs for cheap, they know they have control of the situation because the addict needs the drugs, and they get the item they want.

17. Alcohol

Addicts love to steal alcohol when they can. They know that there’s always someone to buy it when they steal it. Worst case scenario if they can’t find a buyer they’ll have something to drink themselves.

Many gas stations and liquor stores in poverty-stricken areas will gladly buy this alcohol for half price from addicts and resale it at full price. The gas station and liquor store owners are breaking the law by buying stolen goods, but they’re just trying to survive like everyone else (that doesn’t make it right). 

18. Cosmetics/Make-up

Cosmetics and make-up have been in the top ten items stolen for decades. Stores like Macy’s, Alta Beauty, JCPenny, and Target all have large make-up departments.  Many boosters go in as a team and have one person distract the workers, or be the lookout while the other steals as much make-up and cosmetics as possible.

Cosmetics and make-up have a high resale value online which is what makes them attractive to boosters. It’s also one of those items that every woman has in their purse so once the items leave the store they’re very hard to track.