A mother-daughter duo cruised the aisles of a Normandy Park QFC, filling a shopping cart with up to $1,000 in Tide detergent, Centrum vitamins, and Oil of Olay lotion, according to charging documents filed in King County Superior Court. Minutes later, a surveillance camera records the duo blithely wheeling their heaping cart past the checkout counter and through the store's sliding doors—without paying a cent.

The products, King County prosecutors allege, were fenced with a married couple in exchange for drug money (the thieves were allegedly heroin addicts) and then resold to discount markets and dollar stores throughout King County.

More than just capturing a simple case of petty theft, the footage, taken in 2010, marks one of the first pieces of evidence in a 10-month, multi-agency investigation into two separate theft rings allegedly responsible for stealing more than $6.1 million worth of products. The top targets for this big haul? Small-time items that included teeth whitening strips, disposable razor blades, raw chicken, Dawn dish soap, Pampers sizes 1-2-5-6, Advil, Dove and Pantene shampoo, Tylenol, Fred Meyer hair color, purses, perfume, L'Oreal hair products, Prilosec, cleaning supplies, and more.

Two families now face several felony charges for allegedly directing a small army of drug-addicted thieves, otherwise known as "boosters," to steal the items that were intended for resale.

On June 2, Sara Kong and her husband, Chanthou Rim, pleaded not guilty to seven counts each of first-degree attempted trafficking in stolen property, criminal solicitation, and second-degree conspiracy to commit organized retail theft. The couple is charged with orchestrating the theft of $4.8 million from retailers including Safeway, Fred Meyer, QFC, Target, Albertsons, and more. They each face a five-year prison sentence.

Prosecutors say the couple paid boosters pennies on the dollar for the items and then resold them at smaller stores in Seattle and White Center. Some items—like toothbrushes—were even allegedly smuggled to Cambodia in the trunks of cargo-bound cars for resale.

King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg calls the case "the tip of the iceberg" of organized theft, given that half of all retail sales in the state happen in King County. Nationally, organized theft has ramped up over the last decade to become a $30 billion-a-year trade. In 2006, state grocery chains reported up to 25 percent increases in theft, prompting legislators to make Washington the first state in the country where organized retail theft is an automatic felony charge.

Still, "It's become a much bigger problem for our stores over the last five years," says Jan Teague, president of the Washington Retail Association, which represents 2,800 retailers across the state.

But the trends are changing. Whereas professional theft rings used to be more nomadic—boosters traveling up from California, hitting a handful of Washington retailers, and then disappearing back to California—these two theft rings were local. And while Kong and Rim allegedly fenced their stolen goods to other stores, Greenwood business owners Gulshan Rai and his wife, Shabnam Sukhija, who own the GMS Market in Greenwood, now stand accused of giving thieves "shopping lists" of items to steal to stock their own store shelves, according to court records.

King County prosecutors allege that the couple, along with their son, Jatin Rai, and daughter-in-law, Mitu Rai, directed boosters to steal $1.2 million of merchandise for resale at their Greenwood market.

In a sting operation run by undercover detectives, goods were marked using special pens with ink that only appears under ultraviolet light, and undercover agents posing as boosters sold the goods to the GMS Market. Other undercover agents then bought items from the store and checked for the ultraviolet markings to confirm that the Rai family was reselling the "stolen" goods.

Charging documents state that when interviewed by investigators, "Sukhija admitted that she knew the items that people brought to her and her family were stolen, but attempted to justify her actions by saying that people shoplifted from their store."

On June 2, the four family members pleaded not guilty to a variety of charges, including first-degree attempted trafficking in stolen property, attempted possession of stolen property, and conspiracy to commit organized retail theft. If convicted as charged, the family members could face sentences ranging from 9 to 22 months in prison.

None of the attorneys representing the defendants in these alleged theft ring cases returned calls for comment. Both alleged crime families are due back in court on June 16 for a hearing.

This article has been updated since its original publication.