John Agar reports:
It started as a traffic stop, a Kent County sheriff’s deputy pulling over a car with a burned-out headlight, and occupants — reeking of burned marijuana — providing fake names and addresses.
On the back seat was a stash of Meijer bags.
Police were suspicious and asked the car owner for consent to search.
Inside the car? Multiple credit and debit cards, along with nearly $13,000 in stored-value Meijer cards, more commonly known as gift cards.
The extent of the criminal enterprise wasn’t known at the time of the Oct. 2 traffic stop. But after sheriff’s detectives and federal authorities got involved, investigators soon determined the three suspects in the car were allegedly linked to an Internet crime ring in St. Petersburg, Russia.
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