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LI Gang Allegedly Stole Frozen Shrimp To Buy Drugs
By
Garth Johnston
Published Feb 5, 2013
Modified Feb 5, 2013
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Feb 5, 2013
Modified Feb 5, 2013
Share
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At this point it's common knowledge that thieves looking to score drugs covet Tide for its consistent resale value. But who knew that the same deal could work for frozen shrimp? According to Long Island authorities, four folks in Long Island did.
At the end of last month police arrested four housemates—Joseph Elardo, 34, Sharmane Cromer, 34, James Donnellan, 33, and Nicole Johnson, 22—in their Calverton home and charged them with 22 counts of petit larceny, two counts of attempted larceny, two counts of possession of a hypodermic needle and one count of criminal possession of a controlled substance.
Police say they figured out the frozen crustacean gang's MO after investigating a petit larceny in the area. When they pulled the gang over in a car on January 30th, they not only found the shrimp, they also realized the group was "selling the frozen shrimp to a local Chinese restaurant to support their drug habits." Suffolk County police says they stole at least $2,400 in the tasty treats.
In addition to the four shrimp filchers, the owner of the Tai Yu Chinese Restaurant in Mastic Beach, Xue Chai Li, was arrested and charged with criminal possession of stolen property.
Meanwhile, this is what we would have done with all those shrimp if we'd stolen them:
Tagged
drugs
frozen shrimp
gotta make money somehow
long island
Garth Johnston
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