Thieves Clean Up By Clearing Out Appliances

Eventually, more than a dozen people were arrested. More could face charges.

"Some of the facets of the organizations already discovered are still under investigation," Jennings said.

In one of the four cases, the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office got a break last year after investigators tracked down two parked vans full of stolen appliances near Route 1 in Fairfax County, said sheriff's department spokesman Kraig Troxell.

Afterward, five men from Central America were charged with operating a ring that police allege stole more than $500,000 worth of appliances from construction sites in Loudoun County, and $800,000 to $1 million worth of appliances and hardwood floors in Fairfax County. Four of the defendants pleaded guilty to felony charges and were ordered deported because of their illegal status; the fifth fled the country.

Michael Hall, a criminal investigator with the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, said an informant involved in the thefts revealed that the ring got listings of homes under construction.

Then, during the day, with workers on site, some ring members nonchalantly walked into the homes clad in jeans and T-shirts, looking for installed appliances.

"They would go back and hit those houses at night," he said. "This was their full-time jobs. They'd hit two houses a night, two to three days a week."

He said the ring sold most of the appliances locally to contractors and charged $2,000 to $3,000 for a complete kitchen set, which often included a refrigerator, stove, oven, dishwasher and microwave oven.

In the District, Swinson said, a case of his in 2002 focused on an operation that shipped some of the stolen appliances from construction sites to El Salvador and Guatemala.

"They would have a big truck, and the truck would be loaded up and driven across the border," he said. "Once the stolen property makes it over the border, it's next to impossible to recover, but we have been successful in recovering property if they maintain it in a warehouse or storehouse prior to leaving the country."

Generally, authorities said, prosecutions do not come easily, and in most instances, they have to catch the culprits in the act or with the goods.

Andrew Lopez, an assistant U.S. attorney in the District, said "most of the guys don't hold on" to the appliances for very long. "They usually have a reliable place to get rid of them."

Stahl, the detective in Charles County, which has recorded 35 stolen appliances so far this year, said some builders have stopped locking the doors of vacant houses, concerned that burglars would do more damage if they have to break in to get the appliances.

He said some builders wait until the last minute to install major appliances or remove their doors so they have little value.

The problem has become so common that, on occasion, some builders do not bother reporting the theft, he said.

"They just want to get a replacement and get the homeowner in," he said.