Human hair thefts strike US salons is the title of this article from the BBC News organization.

Hair has no serial number – so stolen extensions cannot be traced.

A spate of hair extension thefts across the US has put the spotlight on the lucrative market for human hair.

It may sound an unlikely source of income – but salons across the country are on alert after a series of raids in which hair worth tens of thousands of dollars has been stolen.

In the latest theft, thieves rammed a car through the front door of a beauty supply shop in Atlanta, Georgia, and escaped with an estimated $10,000 (£6,119) in hair extensions.

In Houston, one raid at My Trendy Place hair salon earned the perpetrators $120,000 (£73,432) of Indian “virgin hair” – unprocessed and untreated.

Owner Lisa Amosu said the burglar, filmed on closed circuit television, knew exactly what he wanted and didn’t even bother to raid the cash till, heading straight for the storeroom housing hundreds of extension bundles and wigs.

“They cleared me out,” she says. “It’s so unfortunate, because the hairpieces were made especially for cancer survivors and for ladies who could not usually afford them. [Read the complete article here … ]