CINCINNATI - Police recently found goods totaling $250,000 from Dick??s Sporting Goods, Kroger, Walgreens and Walmart on the shelves of two Kentucky pawnshops in what is one of the biggest raids in the area, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. Law enforcement officials say a group of nearly 20 people stole Crest Whitestrips, Under Armour clothes, Blu-ray players, Wii games and Norelco razors from those retailers over a two-year period.

Organized crime units like that one are becoming more prevalent and retailers are beginning to devise ways to combat the thefts. Annually, merchants lose $30 billion a year to thefts.

At Kroger, Dennis Dansak, manager of organized crime, assists employees at the grocer??s 17 divisions in investigating retail theft. Last fall in Seattle, Dansak and his team helped federal immigration agents catch 32 people who allegedly stole $4.87 million worth of merchandise from six retailers during a 16-month period. Kroger lost $1.21 million worth of goods because of the thieves.

Organized retail crime "is increasing constantly," said Dansak. Professional criminals case stores ahead of the thefts, noting when shelves are stocked and how employees keep an eye on merchandise. Locations of security cameras and security-tagged items are discovered, too.

The thieves work in groups, with two or more coming into the store individually and another couple keeping a lookout. Cell phones are used to coordinate the effort, which takes about two minutes. The products are resold on Craigslist, eBay or to pawnshops.

Popular items with high resale value include baby formula, batteries, DVDs, electronics, Olay beauty products, over-the-count medications and Tide liquid detergent, which can be sold for around a third of their retail price tags. "The economy really pushed consumers to look for better prices, and (organized crime) groups capitalized on that desperation," said Joe LaRocca, vice president of loss prevention for the National Retail Federation.