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Cost-of-Living Stress Fuels Crime Wave in Australia, New Zealand

  • Australia and New Zealand are losing billions to theft wave
  • Retailers turn to fog cannons, cameras, facial recognition
Two shoplifters assault a security guard at a Foodstuffs supermarket in New Zealand earlier in the year.Source: Foodstuffs
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A man strolls out of a New Zealand supermarket carrying bags stuffed with nine stolen legs of lamb. Another pushes out a shopping cart stacked with NZ$1,500 ($896) of pilfered corned beef and mayonnaise. Yet another smashes a security guard in the face with a bottle of milk before making off with a basket of goods.

None attempt to disguise their theft.