Blakey said the Patels allegedly paid between 10 and 40 cents on the dollar, and would then allegedly put the merchandise through a "cleansing" process to remove evidence that the goods were stolen, outdated or recalled.

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Now, Blakey said, every item in the Advance warehouse, at 4949 N. Pulaski Rd., is being examined to determine if Advance purchased it legitimately or from thieves.

Blakey indicated that the city of Chicago would be asked to revoke Advance's business license. It has been in business since 1995; Alvarez indicated that it sold some good directly from a store on the first floor of the warehouse, and distributed other merchandise to a variety of Chicago-area stores.

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Alvarez said she has formed a regional organized crime task force in her office to pursue similar investigations and is welcoming business partners.

The arrests are the result of cooperative efforts by police, prosecutors and a dozen private sector retailers, including Target (which provided the semi-trailer truck), CVS Pharmacy and Walgreen's Co.

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Each of the buys was secretly recorded, and began relatively small. One involved 360 bottles of detergent. Another involved 65 unopened containers of an energy drink.

Police moved in last week, after covertly videotaping a deal in which a semi-trailer truck full of Tide, batteries and razors valued at more than $100,000 was purchased for $22,000.

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In addition, State's Attorney Anita Alvarez said, search warrants yielded more than $4.5 million in cash, some of it found stashed in the crawl space of Ajay Patel's Glenview home and some of it in safe deposit boxes controlled by the Patels.

CHICAGO (WBBM) - Authorities have shut down a northwest side distribution warehouse, and claim two of its owners used it to buy and resell stolen merchandise ranging from detergent and batteries to over-the-counter medications and beauty products.

Six times since August, undercover investigators posing as thieves sold merchandise to Advance Distributors' Ajay and Vijay Patel. Each time, said Assistant State's Attorney Jack Blakey, the investigators told the Patels that the goods were stolen.