Reader Matt sent over an interesting article from The Daily tonight. Apparently, Tide laundry detergent is the target of increasing crime waves around the country, because it’s usually pricey and always in demand:
Law enforcement officials across the country are puzzled over a crime wave targeting an unlikely item: Tide laundry detergent.
Theft of Tide detergent has become so rampant that authorities from New York to Oregon are keeping tabs on the soap spree, and some cities are setting up special task forces to stop it. And retailers like CVS are taking special security precautions to lock down the liquid.
One Tide taker in West St. Paul, Minn., made off with $25,000 in the product over 15 months before he was busted last year… law enforcement officials across the country say Tide theft is connected to the drug trade. In fact, a recent drug sting turned up more Tide that cocaine.
“We sent in an informant to buy drugs. The dealer said, ‘I don’t have drugs, but I could sell you 15 bottles of Tide,’ ” Sprague told The Daily. “Upstairs in the drug dealer’s bedroom was about 14 bottles of Tide laundry soap.”
Matt writes, “If folks knew how to use coupons and/or didn’t have such strong brand loyalty, maybe Tide wouldn’t be a target, huh? Thank you for you help in teaching us to use our money more wisely.”
Photo by John Gress/Reuters for The Daily. Used under Creative Commons License.
prea says
just wow! Certainly hope they don’t ever see my stock of Tide – they might think I’ve been to St Paul recently.
Frugal Skills says
This story sounded completely unbelievable, so I decided to do a little detective work by Googling about Tide laundry detergent theft. The ONLY articles about Tide theft link back to the ONE “The Daily” article cited here. There is literally nothing else that can be found on Google about Tide theft that isn’t related to this one and only article. So until I see a reputable source reporting on Tide theft, I’m calling it a hoax. Or, if I’m feeling generous, an isolated incident at most.
This smells like a media stunt designed to farm backlinks to Rupert Murdoch’s failing newspaper. Murdoch’s media outlets have a well-documented and public history of scummy practices and lying, so I don’t put concocting a ridiculous story to catch the attention of other media outlets and blogs out of the realm of possiblity.
tchrmom93 says
My niece is a Captain in the county police department in Maryland where this seems to have started. I know it is for real, not sure why Snopes hasn’t caught up with it yet. Here’s a link to the news coverage from last fall.
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/8-Suspected-Tide-Bandits-Arrested-in-Maryland-133280343.html
stringofpearls says
I think someone took “money laundering” a bit too seriously!
chickiepiemike says
I was in Family Dollar on Tuesday to pick up some fabric softener (yes, I couponed) and the Tide had cable theft locks around the handles. Kind of like the thing they use on leather coats at the department store! Now, I know why! Thanks for keeping us “in the know,” Jill.
CarynK says
While leaving the Dominicks in Aurora on New York and Eola Road I noticed the manager walking out behind me and then he started jogging and took down a car’s license plate number that was pulling away. I asked him what was going on. He said the gentleman was trying to steal 4 giant sized bottles of TIDE. The manager confronted the customer in the store and told him “I don’t want to see you in this store again.” The customer left the cart of 4 giant bottles of TIDE with the manager. This happened just last week.
Coupon Maven says
Consumerist has another new article today about continued Tide theft – this time, a black-market Tide ring running out of of a barber shop..! Crazy!
https://consumerist.com/2012/03/cops-bust-tide-detergent-theft-ring-operating-out-of-barber-shop.html