Lorenzo Zazueta-Castro

The Republic | azcentral.com

A south Phoenix woman is accused of orchestrating a beer-run scheme in which she bought stolen cases of beer and sold individual cans from her apartment for $1 each.

Irene Gonzalez, 58, was arrested Thursday morning on suspicion of four counts of trafficking stolen property and one count of liquor sales without a license. Police served a search warrant at Gonzalez's apartment in the 2700 block of East Wier Avenue after more than a month-long investigation, according to court documents.

Detectives seized 26 cases of beer, several individual beers and more than $5,600 in cash from the apartment, according to the Phoenix Police Department.

Investigators first learned about Gonzalez after a beer-run suspect arrested in February admitted to stealing the beers with the intent of selling them to a person known only as "mama" that lived in an apartment near 28th Street and Broadway Road, according to court records.

The suspect went on to say that everyone from the neighborhood takes their stolen beers to "mama," according to court records.

Detectives shared the information with the Phoenix Police Business and Economic Security Team, which determined that Irene Gonzalez was "mama" and set about investigating her with help from Corporate Security from Circle K, records show.

The investigation, which took place from Feb. 27 through March 28, used undercover detectives to sell a total of eight 30-packs of beer to Gonzalez for an average of $15 per pack, according to court records. Police said Circle K provided the beer used in the investigation.

Gonzales told officers she sold individual beers for $1 per can and she often provided best practices for beer runs, according to court records.

In one instance, Gonzalez advised undercover detectives to conduct beer runs on Mondays because it was safer and there were less people in convenience stores on those days, records show.