Court documents obtained by CBC detail the inner workings of a multi-level organized ring of stolen goods traffickers allegedly directing prolific shoplifters who have stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of clothes from Lululemon stores across the Lower Mainland.
Search warrant and civil forfeiture materials claim a Burnaby man charged last year in a high-profile investigation into stolen gear was in contact with a Surrey woman whose home was raided by police this March — yielding $175,000 worth of stolen goods and cosmetics.
And even as he was beginning to defend himself against criminal charges of trafficking in stolen property, Surrey RCMP investigators claim the man was still “placing orders” with a street-level shoplifter “on what to steal.”
The web of people allegedly behind the thefts is described in a warrant RCMP obtained in March to search the home and vehicle of a Surrey woman named Yawen Zeng who is accused of operating in an “organizing role” in a trafficking ring.
Zeng has not been charged criminally, but B.C.’s director of civil forfeiture filed a B.C. Supreme Court lawsuit against her last month, citing the numerous items of stolen clothing found in her garage as evidence her home was bought, in part, through the proceeds of crime.
The search warrant details WhatsApp conversations where Zeng allegedly discussed prices and demand for specific Lululemon gear — including one asking for “skin creams” because of “worldwide competition” in which “Canadian price is higher than Asian or Europe.”
“I believe this was a significant message because it showed Zeng’s knowledge of worldwide retail pricing and that she likely shipped and sold products in various international markets,” wrote Const. Chris Tessarolo, the RCMP officer who obtained the warrant.
“[This suggests] that she would be capable of being in a co-ordinating role for organized retail crime.”
According to the search warrant, the RCMP’s investigation began last November when police began following Minh Ngoc Ta — a Lethbridge man who is currently facing multiple charges relating to theft from Lululemon stores across the Lower Mainland.
Police mounted surveillance and watched as Ta allegedly took thousands of dollars worth of merchandise in grab-and-run thefts in the days before Christmas — hitting the Lululemon store in Surrey’s Morgan Crossing mall five times in the space of a week.
Beyond physical surveillance, RCMP also obtained data for Ta’s phone conversations — which allegedly showed him in communication immediately before and after the thefts with Manishkumar Sureshbhai Patel, one of two men charged last year with fencing Lululemon gear.
And so RCMP began reviewing the police files on that investigation.
The agency to first alert the public to the existence of a “large-scale, organized” Lululemon theft operation was Transit Police; they got involved because people selling stolen merchandise through Facebook Marketplace had used SkyTrain as a “getaway vehicle.”
At a news conference last August, investigators said they had seized 800 items of Lululemon gear and arrested two men, but no charges had been filed.
That changed in October, when Patel and Manan Chandreshkumar Shah were charged with two counts each of possession for the purpose of trafficking and trafficking in stolen Lululemon property.
A lawyer for both men — who are cousins — declined comment, but said her clients are pleading not guilty. A preliminary inquiry in the case is set for next month.
As part of the RCMP investigation, Tessarolo reviewed Transit Police logs of Patel’s communications with “prolific Lululemon thieves” — including Amber Cristina Rolston and Aaron Knight, a Surrey couple with his-and-hers bans from entering any Lululemon store in British Columbia.
“I reviewed messages that showed Knight negotiating percentages that he wanted on items that Patel had requested he steal from Lululemon. In some cases, Knight and Patel would haggle to get the percentage they desired,” Tessarolo writes.
“Multiple photographs were sent by Patel to Knight, which were taken from the Lululemon website depicting images of leggings, jackets and other various Lululemon products accompanied by directions and requests as if orders were being placed by Patel to Knight for what to steal.”
The Transit Police file also included messages in which Zeng allegedly told Patel, “The Lululemon pants she was receiving from him had not sold yet, and she could not take any more.”
“Zeng and Patel discussed prices,” the search warrant says. “And Zeng told Patel that she believed she could get better prices elsewhere.”
Tessarolo noted that Zeng did not have a criminal record or any history of low-level retail theft.
“This made me believe that Zeng was disconnected from the thefts in more of an organizing role where she may be fencing stolen products that Patel would send her from low-level retail thieves,” the RCMP officer wrote.
Patel and Shah made their first appearances in Vancouver provincial court in mid-October.
Starting two months later, between December 12, 2024 and January 5, 2025, RCMP allegedly recorded 558 “events” — phone calls or messages — between Patel and Minh Ngoc Ta, the accused Lululemon thief.
“These patterns showed that Patel was placing orders with Ta on what to steal,” Tessarolo wrote.
“From this, I believed that Patel had recent instances of obtaining stolen property and would likely still be communicating with Zeng to fence the stolen property.”
As a result, Surrey RCMP “shifted its investigation to Zeng,” combing through her garbage and enlisting the help of a “Lululemon Asset Protection Specialist” who provided them with a “scanning device” capable of reading wireless tags stores place inside the clothes.
According to the warrant, the scanners work from a distance of 30 metres, and can read the sales history associated with the tags to tell investigators whether an item has ever legitimately cleared the shop floor.
Officers conducted a scan of Zeng’s home from a public roadway and private property, allegedly locating 18 Lululemon items “listed as having been stolen from various stores in the Greater Vancouver area.”
In paperwork filed with the court after the execution of the search warrant, police claim to have found hundreds of Lululemon items, bulk gift cards and reams of Chanel cosmetics in Zeng’s house.
They also seized a baggie containing $5,000 from the glove box of her Honda.
Zeng has not responded to the lawsuit and could not be reached for comment.
The CBC has obtained copies of court documents and recordings of criminal proceedings involving the prolific shoplifters named in the search warrant.
The court record speaks to public concerns about a so-called ‘revolving door’ bail system that sees repeat offenders released from custody almost as soon as they are caught for new offences.
Minh Ngoc Ta, the 33-year-old who sparked the investigation, appeared in Surrey provincial court Monday after being taken into custody in recent days following five releases in the last six months while awaiting trial on a growing list of theft charges.
In April — the last time Ta was let out of custody — he was in a reverse onus position to prove he shouldn’t stay in jail while the proceedings play out, but a judge released him into the care of a recovery program on a promise not to “attend” any Lululemon store in B.C.
Arrest warrants were issued when he failed to show up for a routine appearance in May, and Ta now faces 24 theft charges in Vancouver, West Vancouver, Langley, Burnaby, Coquitlam and Surrey.
His next appearance is set for Thursday.
After Aaron Knight failed three times to comply with bail conditions that saw him barred from Bass Pro Shop, Marshalls, Winners and Lululemon, he was ordered into custody in May to await a pre-sentencing report next month on a raft of theft convictions.
Knight’s partner — Amber Cristina Rolston — is also in custody on charges that include breaching the conditions imposed in September 2024, the last time she pleaded guilty to stealing from Lululemon.
At that hearing, a prosecutor read from a list of crimes.
Rolston stole from a Burnaby Lululemon twice in once day. She and Knight took $16,000 worth of leggings from an Abbotsford Lululemon. And the pair took $4,222 of men’s clothing from a Lululemon downtown.
“What we see here is basically, she’s rapidly escalating. She’s stealing high-value items. She’s in breach of her undertaking not to be in Lululemon,” the prosecutor said.
“There’s really high frequency here. And there’s a high value.”
Rolston was 32 at the time. The prosecutor described her as “pleasant.” Her lawyer said she has struggled with heroin addiction and was living on income assistance.
“I’m very remorseful and embarrassed,” Rolston told Judge Patricia Stark.
“I don’t see myself continuing, honestly. I don’t like this revolving door of the system I’ve put myself in.”
Stark appeared shocked by the situation.
“You walked out the door and basically within four days were stealing again,” she told Rolston.
“These are not victimless crimes. You may think when you go to these stores that nobody suffers. But people do suffer. People own those stores. People work at those stores. People buy from those stores.”
Rolston was ordered to spend another 30 days in jail — and to stay away from Lululemon.
