BERNARD CRUSE "Overwhelming" was the word Cherokee County Sheriff Bill Blanton used to describe the task ahead of investigators Friday as they uncovered what they said was the largest shoplifting ring in the county's history.

As detectives inventoried boxes and boxes of stolen goods such as tooth whitening agents, sleep aids, cold medicines, batteries, fishing poles and gloves, agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control responded to the salvage food store at 1408 N. Limestone St., once the site of a Lowe’s store.

The stolen goods filled the 5,000square-foot "bent can store" to capacity.

Ledger photo by TARA JENNINGS Cherokee County Sheriff Bill Blanton surveys stacks of stolen merchandise Friday. Blanton estimated a salvage food store on Limestone Street contained approximately $1 million in shoplifted items. "It could be $1 million worth of merchandise," Blanton said.

The co-owners of the business were arrested Friday, with more charges expected after the sheriff's office confers with the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Seventh Circuit Solicitor's Office.

Bernard "Bill" W. Cruse, 51, and Brenda Kay Flack, 60, both of Shelby, N.C., each face a charge of receiving stolen goods more than $5,000.

Cruse also is charged with unlawful possession of more than 400 grams of pseudoephedrine, which carries a mandatory 25 years in prison. Blanton said the weight of pseudoephedrine found in the stolen medicines was equivalent to approximately 100,000 tablets.

They remain jailed in lieu of $250,000 bond each. According to warrants, the alleged violations occurred between August 2004 and Thursday.

Police received a tip about the shoplifting ring from an informant. When detectives arrived Friday, Cruse was using a hair dryer to peel original price tags off stolen medicines, police said.

Because some of the stolen merchandise was in its original shipping packages, Blanton believes the items were taken from shipping docks and tractor-trailers in addition to being shoplifted from inside stores. Some of the stolen goods are from Wal-Mart, the sheriff said.

Blanton said he believed Cruse would purchase the stolen items from individual shoplifters and then sell them either inside the store or at flea markets.

The FBI will help the sheriff's office track some of the stolen items back to their rightful owners.

The DEA and DHEC were asked to become involved because of the large amount of medicine found in the store. Many of the medicines contain psuedoephedrine, an ingredient of methamphetamine.

Federal charges that may be considered include violations of the RICO (The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act.

The RICO Act makes it unlawful for a person to use an enterprise or business to launder money generated by a pattern of racketeering activity.