Legos are in all places nowadays, together with prison enterprises. Earlier within the week, California’s Organized Retail Crime Taskforce carried out a collection of raids in opposition to an unlawful fencing operation unfold throughout 4 buildings in LA and Orange counties. Throughout these raids, authorities discovered a group of Lego sets estimated to be value $300,000 total.
Numerous gadgets had been stolen from well-liked retailers like Goal and Lowe’s, however the Legos had been stated to make up the majority of stolen product. In accordance with CBS News, there have been so many packing containers that they had been lined up throughout the partitions of the buildings, and in some circumstances, had been capable of contact the ceiling. (As an ex-retail employee, lemme inform ya: nightmare state of affairs having to drag from the center part of these stacks.) Lego units can get fairly dear the extra elaborate they’re, and packing containers can take up plenty of house, so it’s straightforward to picture how packed these buildings should’ve been.
4 arrests had been made in connection to the fencing ring, whose ages vary from 35 to 47 years outdated. The suspects had been then charged with organized retail theft, grand theft, and conspiracy to commit a criminal offense. Per the LA Times, the quartet would go from retailer to retailer, with two of them swiping restricted version field units earlier than stashing them throughout their numerous safehouses earlier than promoting them in-person or on-line.
When you weren’t conscious, this has really been occurring for fairly a while. In December 2023, Inside Edition revealed a bit on what’s successfully the Lego black market, whereby thieves stole Legos through the holidays and promote them for a good value, notably the restricted version units. A Lego retailer in Las Vegas bought hit 4 occasions inside a month of opening, and the shop proprietor on the time stated $2,000 value of product was stolen.
Comparable theft rings exist for stuff like Magic: The Gathering and Pokémon, so it’s not too shocking to listen to that is taking place with Lego. Some retailers are attempting so as to add some friction to the method, primarily by locking the toys behind a case or wrapping them in a safety bind it’s a must to take away instantly on the register.
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