Aug. 28--When law enforcement officials raided a Sunrise warehouse in 2005, they found millions of dollars worth of stolen Crest Whitestrips, Tylenol, Rogaine, razor blades and Senekot. That was just the beginning.

The warehouse offices of Pharmacare were ground zero for what federal officials say was an organized retail crime group that since September 2003 bought and sold about $7.9 million in stolen over-the-counter medications and health and beauty products.

The U.S. attorney's office last week unsealed an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Fort Lauderdale charging four South Florida men and three others from North Carolina in a multimillion-dollar conspiracy to transport stolen property.

The merchandise allegedly had been taken from Walgreens, Target, CVS and other retailers in North Carolina, Ohio and Texas, then transported to South Florida, where it was repackaged and ultimately resold.

Florida is one of the most active states for organized retail crime, a growing problem that accounts for up to $30 billion in annual losses, the FBI says. A National Retail Federation survey released in June found that 85 percent of retailers have been victimized by organized retail crime within the last year, compared to 79 percent in 2007.

Prime targets are drugstores and grocery stores, and retailers are making changes to combat the problem.

The Pharmacare case is one of several indictments this year around Florida and across the country involving theft of over-the-counter medications and health and beauty products.

'LOW RISK'

"It's very high profit and low risk," said Jerry Biggs, organized crime division coordinator for Walgreens, which helped investigators with the Pharmacare case. "The items are small, they're light and they're expensive."

The largest bust came in January in Central Florida, when 18 people were indicted on charges of stealing up to $100 million in products over five years.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd's team launched the effort, which involved multiple law enforcement agencies, surveillance video, vehicle tracking and stakeouts to infiltrate the ring.

"They were so good at what they did it was difficult watching surveillance video to even tell what they were doing," Judd said. "They could be walking down an aisle, looking at items with one hand and stealing with the other hand."

Rings start with professional shoplifters, known as "boosters," who steal goods with the intent to resell -- potentially hitting a dozen or more stores a day.