COLUMBIA COUNTY, Ga. — Georgia deputies arrested three people accused of operating a baby formula theft ring that netted around $5,000 worth of formula.
Investigators said the group stole from several grocery stores.
On Thursday, Columbia County deputies received a call about three people who had shoplifted several canisters of baby formula from the Walmart Neighborhood Market on South Belair Road.
A short time later, deputies received a call about a similar incident a nearby Kroger.
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Using license plate readers and traffic cameras, deputies tracked down the three suspects to a different Kroger location in Richmond County.
Deputies said the three suspects, identified as 20-year-old Jose Salvador Solis-Hernandez; 22-year-old Dulce Maria Tovar-Sanchez; and 21-year-old Angel Jesus Preza-Gonzalez had been shoplifting formula from that location as well.
All three were then arrested at the store.
An investigation determined that three suspects had stolen from several other Walmart stores and even a Publix in the area.
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Deputies are returning the formula to the various stores they were taken from: Walmart in Evans, Walmart on Bobby Jones Expressway, Walmart Neighborhood Market on Evans to Locks Road, Walmart Neighborhood Market in Grovetown, Publix at Washington Road and Towne Centre Drive, and Publix on Fury’s Ferry Road.
Around $5,000 worth of formula was stolen in total, according to deputies.
Deputies said all of the suspects arrested were from Mexico and did not have any American identification.
All three were taken to the Columbia County Detention Center.
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