Los Angeles residents can relaxation simple figuring out {that a} legal theft ring is not stalking the town’s retail shops to feed a Lego black market. That’s as a result of the California Freeway Patrol (CHP) introduced this week that it had arrested 4 folks it accused of swiping what police estimated was “roughly $300,000” price of Lego units.
The 4 had allegedly burgled shops like Goal, Dwelling Depot, and Lowe’s of their Lego inventory and bought them to black-market sellers who would then vend the stolen bricks at “seemingly reputable companies, swap meets, or on-line.” Police say they had been booked on “prices associated to Organized Retail Theft, Grand Theft, and Conspiracy to commit against the law.”
The CHP posted pictures of the bust on Instagram. Stolen units included the $85 921-piece Millennium Falcon (versus the 7,000-plus piece, $800 behemoth from 2017), the $500 6,167-piece Lord of the Rings Rivendell fortress, and a $170 1,458-piece Porsche 911 set.
Like every other collectible, Lego units are prime targets. In 2021, French police introduced they had been investigating a global Lego crime ring. That very same yr, authorities in Seattle arrested a store proprietor accused of promoting stolen Lego units following a clumsily named “Operation: MandalOrganized Retail Theft” investigation, as NBC Information reported.