Tougher penalties against package-stealing porch pirates and retail theft rings were signed into law Tuesday by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The Republican governor signed the bill that makes it a felony to swipe a package delivered at a home’s front door and to recruit people for a shoplifting job over social media.

The newly signed law, which takes effect in October, also makes it a felony to steal from a store while armed with a gun or if the suspect has two or more convictions for retail theft. Shoplifting with five or more people is a felony now as well.

“Florida is taking another step to distinguish ourselves from lawless jurisdictions and keep our residents and businesses safe,” Mr. DeSantis said at a bill signing event inside a Walgreens in Stuart. “If you steal in Florida, we will catch you and we will prosecute you.”

The laws addressing social media usage to coordinate thefts is a call back to the fast-moving flash mob robberies that hit high-end stores.

The robberies often involve a large group of thieves rushing into stores, stealing armfuls of merchandise and running to getaway cars idling outside.

When the trend was taking off in 2021, San Mateo County, California, District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe told The Wall Street Journal that ringleaders would use Snapchat and other apps to advertise the heist.

“This isn’t ‘The Godfather’ by any stretch,” Mr. Wagstaffe said at the time. “It’s the modern version of ‘Hey, there’s a party tonight’ and suddenly you have 100 kids showing up.”

Flash mob robberies were a major problem in parts of the country last year.

Groups of thieves hit the Chanel store in downtown Washington twice — once in February and then in December.  

And last summer in the Los Angeles area, a Nordstrom and a Yves Saint Laurent store were ransacked by shoplifters.

The thefts cost the stores hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Ashley Moody, Florida’s Republican attorney general, said, “We’ve seen the videos of flash mobs: They rush stores, they distract the clerks and then they’re able to just ransack stores. That will not happen in Florida because we are proactive and we lead.”

• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.