Los Angeles residents can relaxation simple understanding {that a} felony theft ring is not stalking 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 “approximately $300,000” price of Lego units.
The 4 had allegedly burgled shops like Goal, Residence Depot, and Lowe’s of their Lego inventory and bought them to black-market sellers who would then vend the stolen bricks at “seemingly legitimate businesses, swap meets, or online.” Police say they had been booked on “charges related to Organized Retail Theft, Grand Theft, and Conspiracy to commit a crime.”
The CHP posted photos 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 another collectible, Lego units are prime targets. In 2021, French police introduced they had been investigating a world 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.