OAKLAND — For two days, investigators parked their unmarked car outside a nondescript parking lot behind an Oakland liquor store, across the street from a church and watched.
They saw the same thing over and over: A car would pull up, and someone inside would exit with a jumbo-sized garbage bag that appeared full and heavy. A hand-to-hand transaction would occur and the vehicle would pull off, soon to be replaced by another, authorities said.
By the end, two people were charged: 22-year-old Jose Cruz-Barragan and 35-year-old Irene Cruz. In a police interview, Cruz-Barragan allegedly claimed to be a flea market salesman who made a paltry $120 per workday. But the duo face charges of receiving $541,790 in stolen property for re-sale and are set to appear in court for a disposition hearing in two weeks, records show…