Young Joins Legislation to Combat Organized Retail Theft

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) joined legislation introduced by U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) to crack down on flash mob robberies and intricate retail theft schemes. The Combating Organized Retail Crime Act (CORCA) of 2025 would establish a coordinated multi-agency response and create new tools to tackle evolving trends in organized retail theft, including cargo theft.

“Cargo and retail theft are threatening our supply chains and national security and harming American businesses and consumers. I’m glad to join Senators Grassley and Cortez Masto as we work together to address and combat this evolving threat,” said Senator Young.

According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), more than 84 percent of retailers report that violence and aggression from criminal activities has become more of a concern since 2022, resulting in injuries and deaths among employees, customers, security officers, and law enforcement personnel. NRF also estimates that larceny incidents increased by 93 percent in 2023 compared to 2019. In recent years, criminal organizations have increasingly turned to retail crime to generate illicit profits, using internet-based tools to organize flash mobs, sell stolen goods, and move money. 

The Combating Organized Retail Crime Act would establish an Organized Retail and Supply Chain Crime Coordination Center within the Department of Homeland Security that combines expertise from state and local law enforcement agencies, as well as retail industry representatives. The bill would also create new tools to assist in federal investigation and prosecution of organized retail crime, and help recapture lost goods and proceeds.

In addition to Senators Young, Grassley, and Cortez Masto, U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W. Va.), Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), Ashley Moody (R-Fla.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) also cosponsored the legislation.

Young convened a subcommittee hearing in February titled “Grand Theft Cargo: Examining a Costly Threat to Consumers to the U.S. Supply Chain.” Young also penned an op-ed highlighting the threat cargo theft poses to our national security.

Full text of the legislation can be found here.