On another forum, we've been discussing why infant formula is often shoplifted.

Just this week, another article shows that infant formula (and other items) are the target of shoplifting rings, that re-sell the goods to fund terrorism.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fence23dec23,1,2208602.story?coll=la-headlines-california&ctrack=1&cset=true

Also, I had always been told that infant formula was stolen, to be used to "cut" street drugs.  According to this DEA (U.S. Drug Enforcement Adminstration) site, this is a myth.
http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/programs/forensicsci/microgram/mg0205/mg0205.html
(scroll down to Table 2 : Miscellaneous Myths)

Myth:
INFANT FORMULA is used as a cutting agent (diluent) for drugs such as methamphetamine. 

Fact:
Infant formula often is stolen from retail stores and resold on Internet auction sites, at flea markets, and at convenience stores. Some criminal groups steal large quantities of infant formula and smuggle the formula to other locations--particularly Mexico and Central America--where the formula is sold on the black market. Infant formula is not a common diluent for methamphetamine.

Janice Reynolds


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