With holiday shopping in full swing, Knox County's Organized Retail Crime Unit is working harder than ever.
This past Thanksgiving weekend, they arrested 66 adults, five minors and recovered just under $25,000 in stolen or fraudulently purchased property.
While petty theft is common nationwide, organized retail crime is a particular problem in East Tennessee.
That's multiple people working together to steal certain items that are often sold online or at other stores for profit.
Lawmakers say until something is done about the opioid crisis, these big thefts will keep happening.
State Representative Jason Zachary passed a bill in 2015 that made the creation of an Organize
Retail Crime Unit possible for Knox County and other departments statewide.
Since then, dozens of crime rings have been infiltrated in our area.
"They've been able to make some significant busts over just the last couple weeks, some of those related to entities out of state that have tried to come in," said Zachary.
The Knox County Sheriff's Office reports so far this year, Belk, Home Depot and Kohl's are the stores where they've recovered the most stolen merchandise.
Kroger is also a big target for these crimes.
Glenn Alred, manager for Kroger's Organized Retail Crime Unit, says they've paired up with KCSO to bust several organized retail crime rings in Knoxville and Oak Ridge.
Alred says the overwhelming majority of criminals they arrest have a problem with drug addiction.
"As we began to move through this and pass legislation, we realized how organized retail crime was directly linked to the opioid crisis," said Zachary.
Zachary and Alred say that's why this is a big problem in East Tennessee in particular.
But our local organized retail crime task force and those associated with bigger chain stores are catching a lot of thefts before they get out of control.
Alred has a background in law enforcement and has served in this role for Kroger for 9 years.
He says there are some noticeable signs of someone who may be stealing from a store.
They'll look for security cameras, often come in carrying store bags, and will often leave if employees approach and ask if they need help.