West Columbia man arrested and charged for purchasing stolen good from an law enforcement agent, police say

LEXINGTON, S.C. (WOLO) – Lexington County deputies have arrested a man who was charged with purchasing stolen goods from an agent of law enforcement.

Mohamid A. Khamis, 45, of West Columbia, was transported tot he Lexington County Detention Center and given a $5,000 surety bond.

This investigation began in October 2018 when detectives of the Lexington Police Department were working on a series of shoplifting cases that involved merchandise being stolen from multiple businesses in the Town of Lexington.

Through their investigation they were able to identify a subject who admitted shoplifting merchandise stolen from businesses and re-selling these items to support an addiction to cocaine.

As a result of this investigation, detectives were able to identify Mohamid Khamis as he was known to purchases stolen goods from those who shoplift, giving them a small percentage of the retail value as payment.

Mohamid Khamis would then re-sell the stolen merchandise at the US #1 Metro Flea Market on Augusta Road in Lexington County, South Carolina and to other buyers around the state.

Detectives of the Lexington Police Department began working with corporate asset protection investigators who provided merchandise and other support to further this investigation.

Over the course of several weeks, detectives and asset protection investigators conducted a series of successful controlled sales of merchandise, valued at approximately $2,500 in total, which were presented by a confidential informant as being stolen to Mohamid Khamis during each transaction.

In December 2018, a search warrant was executed at the residence of Mohamid Khamis and a storage unit rented by him where numerous items of stolen merchandise was recovered. The items recovered were mainly power tools and accessories which had a retail value of over $3,000.00.