'Organized crime ring' steal thousands from Victoria's Secret

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Five women and a man dressed as a woman stole $4,500 in bras and panties from a Victoria's Secret store in Port Richey, according to the sheriff's office. Mobs of thieves are becoming a trend in Pasco County and investigators hope to shut it down.

This time, it happened at the Gulf View Square Mall. Deputies say the crooks walked out the door with bags full of items, and it's not the first time they've struck.

Pasco deputies the group can be seen on surveillance video at the front of the store. Detectives say the group is organized, pulling off the same scheme in several counties.

Detectives say calling it 'shop lifting’ doesn't do it justice. They call it an organized crime ring.

“We are seeing a trend," said Detective Eric Pfenninger. "Based on it being organized, a lot of the times these subjects will sell the material online."

This group is believed to have targeted at least three other stores across the Bay Area in the last month, and may be connected to the group that targeted a Home Depot in Zephyrhills earlier this month. In that incident, a man apparently dressed as a woman pushed the clerks out of the way and loaded hundreds of dollars onto stolen gift cards.

Detectives say in this case, store clerks didn't know they had been stolen from until after they noticed the merchandise was gone.

Employees at the Gulf View Square Victoria's Secret couldn’t comment on the investigation, but the sheriff’s office hopes someone with information will come forward.