\nBy Ed Komenda Las Vegas Sun<\/p>\n
\tFor three months, someone has been dropping dye bombs into Marty Martin\u2019s dirty laundry.<\/p>\n
\n\tMartin is the guy in charge of laundering thousands of pounds of sheets and towels soiled in Strip hotels.<\/p>\n
\tThe culprit\u2019s identity remains a mystery, but the message is clear.<\/p>\n
\tMartin says the vandalism is payback for his success. His company has taken a significant amount of business away from competitors.<\/p>\n
\tIt\u2019s the kind of corporate sabotage one might expect in a casino or nightclub. But insiders say such treachery has played out in Las Vegas laundry rooms for years.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cIt\u2019s a dirty business,\u201d said Martin, executive vice president of Apex Linen. \u201cNo pun intended.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe trouble began in mid-July, when Martin, a longtime laundry equipment executive, got a frantic call from the crew inside his company\u2019s $25 million laundry facility. Something was wrong with the company’s 12-foot-high, 60-foot-long washing machine.<\/p>\n
\tThe water and 10,000 pounds of white linens had turned black.<\/p>\n
\tMartin\u2019s first guess was that the machine had leaked some of its hydraulic oil. But when he saw the water and damaged towels up close, he knew it was more than a faulty line.<\/p>\n
\tHe found a scrunched-up baggie inside the machine\u2019s giant, tumbling belly filled with remnants of black dye powder.<\/p>\n
\tHe quickly discovered the dye was part of a larger \u201cdye bomb.\u201d Someone had cut a pocket into a dirty towel, loaded it with a dye-filled baggie and sewed the pocket closed. The person also cut the corners off the baggie so that it would slowly release the dye when the machine soaked the packet in water.<\/p>\n
\tThe bomb destroyed almost all of the towels in the load, a $4,000 hit.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cIt\u2019s sabotage,\u201d Martin said. \u201cThe reason this is happening is we came out of nowhere and we\u2019re taking over.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n
\tLas Vegas\u2019 linens business is more competitive than you may think.<\/p>\n
\tPeople thought Martin and his business partner were crazy to open a laundry business with borrowed money in the middle of a recession. But not long after Apex debuted in 2011, it landed millions of dollars worth of contracts with the Tropicana, South Point, Cannery and Treasure Island.<\/p>\n
\tThe company now employs 200 people and cleans 200,000 towels, sheets and uniforms \u2014 or 100,000 pounds of linens \u2014 every day.<\/p>\n
\tThat\u2019s work Apex took from other companies. Many of his employees also previously worked for competitors.<\/p>\n
\tMartin is unapologetic. That\u2019s business, he said.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe have to keep supporting our team and growing over here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\tBoth MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment have in-house laundry operations, so companies fight hard to land other accounts on the Strip. The competition can get ugly.<\/p>\n
\tIn just three years, Apex has fought (and won) non-compete lawsuits from other laundry companies; Martin has fired mole employees planted by competitors to disrupt operations at Apex; he has overcome a break-in to his office; and he has discovered that someone has been trying to cash fraudulent checks embossed with Apex\u2019s name and logo, Martin said.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThey have been trying to stop us,\u201d Martin said.<\/p>\n
\tApex is offering a $5,000 reward to anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest of the dye bomber. But so far, no one has come forward.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s a fear thing or if no one really knows,\u201d Martin said.<\/p>\n
\t\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n
\tMartin filed a report with Metro Police. His crew caught some dye packets before they went into the machine and handed them over to investigators.<\/p>\n
\tDetectives said they would run tests for fingerprints, but Martin hasn\u2019t received any results. That was weeks ago.<\/p>\n
\tApex also coordinated with the resorts it serves. Martin knows the sabotage isn\u2019t happening in his plant. Surveillance video covers the entire property.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe watched all the tape,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have GPS on the truck.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tSome hotel security bosses let Martin watch surveillance video for leads, which were scarce.<\/p>\n
\tHe once spotted a man who stepped into a hotel elevator with a full backpack, only to come back down three minutes later with an empty backpack.<\/p>\n
\tBut that\u2019s not proof of wrongdoing. Metro needs more \u2014 video of the culprit tossing the contents of the backpack into a maid\u2019s cart, for instance.<\/p>\n
\tResort brass also needed more and were reluctant to bother anyone inside their hotel without solid proof of a crime.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThis is something they just don\u2019t want to deal with at all,\u201d Martin said. \u201cReally, this is just something that we\u2019ll have to deal with on our end.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n
\tApex told clients about the attacks when they happened, but Martin said the news didn\u2019t damage any relationships.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThey were kind of laughing about it,\u201d Martin said. \u201cThey felt bad for us. They said, \u2018Aw, jeez, what a business you guys are in.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe saboteur has targeted only Apex\u2019s in-house inventory \u2014 the towels and sheets the company rents to hotels, not those owned by the resorts.<\/p>\n
\tIn all, the vandals have damaged about $100,000 in linens.<\/p>\n
\tCleaning crews restored some of the dyed items. Others landed in the trash.<\/p>\n
\tMartin had heard rumors of treachery and dirty dealings before he got into laundry operations.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cIt\u2019s an old technique,\u201d he said. \u201cIn the old days, they had this stuff going on. (It\u2019s a) turf war.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tBased on what he has heard around town, Martin said he\u2019s pretty sure Apex is the only local laundry company dealing with sabotage now.<\/p>\n
\tWho would launch such a vicious campaign?<\/p>\n
\tMartin has his suspicions, but he wouldn\u2019t comment on them. That\u2019s a job for the cops.<\/p>\n
\tUntil then, it\u2019s business as usual. Martin said he isn\u2019t going to let a little black dye slow him down.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cPeople in the laundry business are stubborn,\u201d he said<\/p>\n