Police use UPS to deliver an arrest

In a clever plan hatched by Costa Mesa police, a detective disguised himself as a UPS delivery man dropping off a package in hopes it would lure in the buyer, a pizza delivery man who allegedly used a stolen credit card for the purchase.

“We wanted to make it look as realistic as possible,” said Costa Mesa Lt. Paul Dondero.

Thursday afternoon detectives watched as Jason Le Tran, 23, of Fountain Valley, collected the UPS box from the doorstep of a vacant apartment in the 1000 block of South Coast Drive in Costa Mesa, police said. The box had things inside it to weigh it down to mimic merchandise, police said.

Police had been investigating the UPS deliveries — not Tran — for about a month.

According to police, a few months ago Sephora, the international retail chain specializing in fragrances and skin care, noticed a suspicious pattern of deliveries headed to a few Costa Mesa addresses. The deliveries caught the company’s attention because they were linked to purchases by credit cards reported stolen. Company officials notified police, Dondero said.

Thursday afternoon, detectives put out their bait.

Authorities said they found that Tran had two UPS deliveries scheduled for Thursday. Police worked with UPS to have an undercover officer pose as the delivery man. After the officer dropped off the packages on the doorstep, all of the locations Tran allegedly used were vacant, so the officer waited.

Tran showed up in about 15 minutes, picked up his package and left, police said. After he opened the first box and threw away the packaging, police pulled him over and arrested him on suspicion of grand theft and identity theft. They found shipping receipts and maps of other vacant apartments in the car, according to police. Officials said he used his job as a Domino’s Pizza delivery man to find vacant apartments.

A search of his home turned up about $4,000 in Sephora merchandise, authorities said. Police said he either sold the products on EBay — three of his items are still online under his user name “AndyHo2008” — or sent them to an accomplice in Vietnam who sold them there. Police said he’s made at least $11,000 in the scam in recent months. The EBay profile shows items being sold as far back as last year.