The State - News from April 24, 1988

In a sting operation set up to attract drug addicts selling stolen goods, Fresno County sheriff’s deputies netted such bargains as an $18,000 Cadillac for $500 and a $51,000 truck-trailer rig for $3,000. Addicts desperate for a few dollars to buy drugs sold stolen merchandise to undercover deputies who set up shop in a mobile van, a sheriff’s spokesman said. Over an eight-month period, the deputies bought $2 million worth of stolen merchandise for about $32,000. The items included 35 stolen vehicles, trucks, trailer rigs, a sailboat and a variety of household appliances, electronic entertainment equipment, guns, tools and musical instruments. Fifty-two arrest warrants have been issued, and 35 people arrested, the spokesman said.