Sina U. S. Stock Exchange News Beijing time 12 news, the United States national clothing retail giant The Home Depot IncThe chief executive of Home Depot) said that theft cases in the US retail industry were rampant and were "almost everywhere", and pointed out that the opioid drug crisis in the United States may be one of the reasons for the surge in retail theft cases.

The company said organized criminals were stealing multimillion-dollar goods from The Home Depot Inc and other retailers and storing the stolen goods in warehouses. Theft has become so rampant that The Home Depot Inc's operating margin is likely to fall next year.

The Home Depot Inc CEO Greg Minier (Craig Menear) said: "this situation can be seen everywhere in the retail industry." We think this is related to the opioid crisis, although we are not quite sure. "

This is the first time that a major US retailer has made it clear that opioid epidemics are a factor affecting its financial performance. According to a report by the American Retail Federation (NRF), the US retail industry loses about $51 billion in sales each year to theft, and more than 2/3 of retailers have seen an increase in "organized retail crime" in the past year.

Most retailers install security systems in their stores, but the addictive nature of opioids, coupled with the ease of selling stolen goods online, clearly makes criminals bolder.

In one case in New York, thieves carrying $16.5 million worth of stolen goods were caught, of which $1.4 million came from home Depot. In response, The Home Depot Inc is using technology, including machine learning, to predict the next development of criminal syndicates, executives said. The company is also adopting new technology, and the thieves' power tools will not work unless they pass its POS system.