SEAL BEACH >> Seal Beach police and 14 other law enforcement agencies seized more than $50,000 in stolen alcohol early Wednesday as part of an operation that put 10 members of the Long Beach Insane Crip gang behind bars, officials said.

“During one burglary here in Seal Beach, the suspects were in the store for eight minutes and managed to get away with $5,000 of alcohol,” said Seal Beach Police Chief Joe Stilinovich during a Wednesday afternoon news conference.

Investigators believe the money made from selling the stolen alcohol was then used to fund other criminal activities to benefit the gang.

The criminal burglary ring targeted independent higher-end restaurants and grocery stores, officials said.

Two such restaurants in Seal Beach were hit by the burglary ring, Stilinovich said. A Stater Bros., Food 4 Less and Ralphs were hit in Long Beach as well as the Food 4 Less in Signal Hill and a Ralphs, Albertson’s and Vons in Torrance, according to authorities.

The alleged criminals would steal safes from the restaurants and expensive alcohol from the stores.

“There are some bottles of alcohol that have been valued at about $200 a piece,” said Sgt. Joe Miller with the Major Crimes Detail of the Seal Beach Police Department.

A small group would enter the grocery stores, load up a cart with bottles of alcohol and then run out of an emergency door, Stilinovich explained. Once outside, they would load up the stolen items into an awaiting vehicle and leave.

During the investigation, detectives learned there were 50 similar type of safe thefts in Orange County alone, Miller said.

Around 5 a.m., six SWAT teams, including those from Long Beach, Torrance, El Segundo police and Orange County Sheriff’s departments, served a total of 10 search warrants in the cities of Long Beach, Los Angeles, Signal Hill, Paramount and Hawthorne.

All the warrants were in relation to a commercial burglary spree in which nearly 100 crimes were allegedly committed by members of the Long Beach gang in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, according to authorities.

In one home alone, investigators found about 1,350 bottles of stolen alcohol, including champagne, vodka, tequila and other spirits.

Those arrested as a result of Operation Crossover include: David Ball, 38, and Cedric Pitts, 32, both of Signal Hill; Alfred Milliner, 30, Robert Forbes, 30, Dominique Lewis, 25, and Jimmy Jackson, 33, all of Long Beach; Jeffrey Terry, 31, Girmay Johnson, 33, and Anthony Boyd, 31, all of Los Angeles, and Brian Webb, 32, of Paramount. They were all booked on suspicion of burglary and gang enhancements. Jackson was also booked for witness intimidation.

Two men, Myron Hayes, 36, of Long Beach and Dwight Seay 30, of Hawthorne, are on the run.

The investigation began when the group hit a Ralphs in Seal Beach last November, Stilinovich said.

“We don’t think it was the first store targeted though,” he said, adding there are similar crimes dating back to early 2013 that detectives are investigating.

Authorities say they are still early in the investigation and will continue to work the case.

Anyone with information regarding this case or other associated crimes can contact Seal Beach burglary Detective Mary Martinez at 562-799-4100, Ext. 1110 or by email at mmartinez@sealbeachca.gov. Anonymous tips may be submitted by phone at 855-TIP-OCCS (855-847-6227) or online at www.occrimestoppers.org.

“An assault on the gang’s ability to make money hopefully will deter them from future crimes of this nature,” Miller said. “Hopefully we took a leg out from their gang.”

Contact Beatriz E. Valenzuela at 562-499-1466.