You might think the life of a shoplifter is pretty monotonous. However, Nele Peil, CEO of the Estonian Retailers' Association (Eesti Kaupmeeste Liit ), and Veiko Vares, head of internal security at the A1000 supermarket chain, instead portray the reality as a constant game of cat-and-mouse – one the average shopper, who is simply going about their daily business, never even notices.

"This morning, there was a situation in Valga, where a man came in and stole a nose hair trimmer and a manicure set. If you look at him, he seems like a perfectly decent person, not some kind of alcoholic or anything. He just came into  the store, took it and put it in his bag," Vares said by way of example.

According to experts, certain types of thieves stand out. Firstly, there are those who have fallen between the cracks in life or may be suffering from mental health issues, sometimes officially declared innocent. Raigo Prants, head of the Lääne-Harju police station's procedural department, refers to them "vulnerable people, who are in need of help." "Certainly these are people with mental health issues, who may not be coping with things by themselves in the best way," Prants said.

"They'll come in [to a store] when they already know things are bad and they don't have any chance of running out with the bottle or whatever. They'll come in, and take the cap off. One option is to try and either finish, or drink as much of the contents as they need, or until they get caught," said Veiko Vares.

Another challenge for the police are gangs of youths who break and steal things, but are difficult to prosecute due to their age.

"A week ago, there was a situation where four youths were in the same store, split into two groups. One of them stole something and got away, the other tried to steal something, but didn't get away.," Vares explained.

"They got caught, we had a nice chat with them, then their parents came in after them and everything. A little time went by, and the same two groups [of youths] came back again. They walked all the way through the store. Stole eleven shoe horns – for no apparent reason. One stole an energy drink he wasn't able to buy, and he also stole a candy bar. /.../ And finally, when he was caught, it turned out he had a knife with him. He was so arrogant, he didn't care about any compromises, about us communicating with his parents, or about anything. We called the police. The police came here, and he laughed in the police's face," Vares said.

Pensioners

Perhaps the most surprising demographic among which shoplifting has become common is pensioners.

In one example, on April 10 this year, at around 1.30 p.m., a grey-haired lady stuffed a selection of cleaning products worth around €8 into her bag at a store on Tallinn's on Varraku tänav and walked past the checkout without paying.

On April 24, a bearded man wearing a brand-named jacket slipped two cans of Georgian adjika sauce worth €6 into his pocket and left the store. In both cases, it appear unlikely that they simply forgot to pay.

"There are also quite a few people who have never shoplifted before, or at least not very much, but who now steal mainly from self-service checkouts," said Estonian Retailers' Association CEO Nele Peil.

While hard alcohol used to be a shoplifters favorite choice, recently, more and more common foodstuffs have been added to the list.

"This little packet of butter, as we have it, 60 packets disappeared from the store in the space of two weeks. It was a professional pensioner, who came in and took five packs and put them in a bag for himself. I can't imagine what he was doing. Was he really such an avid baker? There were 48 packets [stolen] from another store too," A1000 security chief Veiko Vares said.

Also in the "wolf in sheep's clothing" category, was a particularly curious example from Viljandi. On the morning of December 20, at around 11 a.m., two women independently of each other stole items from the same store. One of the women, who was wearing a dark jacket and grey hat, first put, among other things, some chocolate, patchouli and balsam into a shopping trolley and then surreptitiously stuffed them into her handbag.

In the dairy section, she passed another woman in a light-colored hat and beige jacket, who was also on the prowl. While the woman in the dark jacket was queuing at the checkout, the one in the beige jacket stood behind her and slipped another item into her handbag.

Then, as the first one packed away a few honestly-bought items, the second woman continued her rounds, surreptitiously taking some sausages and chocolate, as well as heart medication and sleeping tablets. Finally, she also lifted another item  from the near checkout counter, before presenting only a packet of blood sausages to the cashier in order to pay for them.

Tougher economic situation, self-service checkouts and punitive policies lead to increase

These seemingly isolated small cases add up to some surprisingly large numbers. According to statistics from the Estonian Ministry of Justice, there were 6060 shoplifting cases in Estonia in 2023 – a  39 percent increase on the year before. However, retailers say the reality is even worse, as a large proportion of thefts are only detected after the event during stock checks. Many are also resolved on the spot without the involvement of the police, with the shoplifter ultimately returning the goods or paying after being caught.

While the reasons behind the increase in shoplifting have not been investigated specifically, some experts say the rise is due to a combination of the tougher economic situation, the increased number of self-service checkouts and limited fear of incurring legal penalties.

The theft of items valued at less than €200 is considered to be a misdemeanor. In other words, if a person is caught three times in a year or steals goods valued at more than €200, they will face criminal charges. In practice, however, one of the main problems is recognizing this, when, for some shoplifting cases the police are not called.

"The state does not know about most thefts. For retailers, chasing a thief and dealing with them, all costs time and money, and if the amount stolen doesn't exceed a few hundred euros, the police usually don't deal with it anyway. The Prosecutor's Office doesn't deal with it either, and so, in that sense there is little point in the retailer informing them that the theft has taken place," Nele Peil explained.

The State Prosecutor's Office also confirmed officially and publicly last March, that shoplifting, along with a number of other petty crimes, is considered a lower priority as not every incidence can be dealt with.

According to Peil, the six largest supermarket chains in Estonia alone lose between €2.5 million and 3.5 million a year due to shoplifting. Conservative estimates put the total losses incurred from shoplifting at over €15 million.

Retailers' biggest losses caused by theft

All those "Pealtnägija" spoke to were in agreement, that the biggest proportion of the losses incurred by retailers is caused by thieves.

"It's essentially like organized crime. They usually find drug addicts who go to different stores during the day. They steal from everyone. Some even have shopping lists of items to steal," said Peil.

"One of their specific criteria is that they always steal a very, very large amount of items at a time, and they have a very wide assortment. They do it with a view to reselling them," explained Raigo Prants, head of the Lääne-Harju police station's procedural department.

For a number of reasons, it is impossible to confirm statistically who Estonia's most prolific shoplifter is. However, one contender for the title is 44-year-old repeat offender Mark Jermakov.

"He's said it in front of the police the police and he's said it to our faces – it doesn't matter, arrest me, I'm going to do time, but then I'm coming out. It's my job and I'm going to keep stealing," said Vares.

Some of the more sophisticated criminal gangs may have a complex division of roles, whereby one person distracts the attention of security for instance. Other may employ tactics like lining bags with foil to evade electronic detector machines. However, Jermakov's approach is more straightforward.

Last year, on May 2, first Jermakov loaded up a basket full of expensive confectionery in a store on Tallinn's Varraku tänav. Then, in the shade of a cookie stand, he lifted them into a hold all, grabbed a handful of candies, messed around a bit with a variety of goods and then headed for the exit without paying for anything.

The next day, May 3, Jermakov was back at the same liquor cabinet. This time, his basket was filled with a selection of whiskies and brandies, which he crammed into his bag against the backdrop of the more crowded household chemicals section.

"He's not like the kind of person who just takes a bottle and then goes down the street to sell it to someone. He already has a car with a driver waiting to take him from one place to another. He comes to the store here, goes in, does a quick round, bags his stuff, runs to the car and then goes straight to the next place," explained Vares.

On the evening May 27, Jermakov grabbed a basket full of sliced ham and bacon at a store in Tallinn's Õismäki district, hid behind a pillar and put everything into a bag. Even when he tried to push them into this bag, a couple of the packs of meat did not fit, so he had to leave them behind. Jermakov then stood in line at the checkout for a while, before boldly walking out of the store.

On this occasion, however, the thief had been spotted. When a store employee tried to stop him from getting a way, a scuffle broke out at the door and then a slight chase. Despite her bravery, the employee was knocked to the floor in the incident, as Jermakov fled the scene.

"There were repeated attempts to stop him, but he physically pushed people, members of staff, away. We were also told that if he comes here, just don't hurt yourself, if he doesn't obey you, let him go. If you can't stop him, let him go. There's just a fear when it comes to this kind of person. We never know what he might do," Vaher said.

Jermakov goes about his business like he is at work. Last June, for example, he went over to the Coop store in Muraste and followed the same routine there every few days.

First, he loaded up a basket to the brim with bottles of expensive alcohol in the liquor aisle, and on at least one occasion was accompanied by a woman, who kept watch. After that, he went over to the gardening supplies department, where he used pliers to cut off the safety catches from the bottles of alcohol, before placing the pliers in a bag and throwing the safety tags away.

Sometimes, Jermakov even buys a drink or an ice-cream and simply walks out of the store with a bulging backpack full of stolen items. On at least two occasions, he has been caught on CCTV waiting for pre-arranged transport to pick him up.

It is clearly an industrial-scale activity, because on the same days he also raids other shops in Tallinn too. On June 11, he returned to the same store, where he had wrestled with a female worker as she tried to apprehend him two weeks earlier.

This time, instead of a backpack, Jermakov brought along a large plastic bag with shredded clothes placed inside to hide the items he planned to take. He loaded the bag with packers of coffee, then put the rags back on top. He played around with the zefir (form of confectionery - ed.) for a moment, then decided he hadn't yet had enough, passed by for another handful of candy and headed out.

Jermakov was finally arrested at the end of June. After being connected to 50 similar incidents, this February he was sentenced to between three and four years in prison – a record in recent times for such offenses. However, representatives of retailers say Jermakov's is a very isolated and exceptional case.

Both the Estonian Ministry of Justice and the Estonian Retailers' Association have promised to produce an analysis soon outlining the best ways to tackle the problem.

Retailers are discussing, among other things, the potential use of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to identify the faces of repeat offenders, or notice suspicious patterns of behavior. However, this type of surveillance is not yet legal in Estonia.

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