The Daily Populous Sunday July 14th, 2024 evening edition
Authored by theguardian.com and submitted by diacewrb

A black market for highly valuable Lego sets is being built brick by brick, and authorities are trying to knock it down.

Lego sets are highly sought after, by kids and their parents as well as adult collectors.

But it’s not all fun and games. Bad actors who know the resale value of these sets are increasingly cashing in, while law enforcement aims to bust such Lego theft rings.

Police in Oregon last week recovered 4,000 stolen Lego sets worth more than $200,000, according to law enforcement. Ammon Henrikson, 47, the owner of a retail store called Brick Builders in Eugene, was arrested and accused of knowingly purchasing the allegedly stolen goods for a fraction of their retail price and then reselling them, a local CBS channel reported.

Police in nearby Springfield said in a statement: “When interviewed, some suspects advised that Brick Builders’ staff knew the sets had recently been stolen. Officers learned that many of the suspects were utilizing the money they received to buy and use illegal drugs.”

It’s just one apparent example of a growing scheme that appeals to niche audience.

Two people were arrested in Los Angeles last month in connection with more than 2,800 stolen Lego sets. In April, California police arrested three men and a woman after discovering stolen Lego sets worth a combined $300,000. Some of the stolen sets included the 921-piece Millennium Falcon, typically priced around $85, the 6,167-piece Lord of the Rings Rivendell set, worth $500, and the 1,458-piece Porsche 911 set, worth $170.

Meanwhile, overseas, French police announced in 2021 that they had begun building a case against an international gang of toy thieves specializing in Lego.

Read Hayes, a criminologist at the University of Florida and the executive director of the Loss Prevention Research Council, has been looking into the Lego issue and said it was a problem that “seems to be growing, according to retailers. And the way they’re measuring that is by looking at what they’re stealing. There are certain highly targeted goods that they see in aftermarkets – online, flea markets, swap meets, food sales, things like that.”

View image in fullscreen Police in Los Angeles recovered thousands of stolen Lego sets. Photograph: LAPD

Lego sets range in retail price from $20 to well over $1,000. Hayes said the sets based on the Star Wars franchise, for example, are some of the most valuable and therefore most sought after by thieves.

“It’s the special promotional ones – a Seinfeld collectible kit and of course when every new Star Wars movie [opens]. They have a deal, and they’re going after that select item,” Hayes said.

Hayes says the key to foil the toy thieves’ plans lies in loss prevention, an industry that works to protect businesses from theft, fraud, and operational errors.

The toy’s manufacturer is the Lego Group, based in Denmark, which not only designs and makes the bricks, figures and kits to sell worldwide but also operates some retailers and has built Lego-themed amusement parks known as Legoland.

The company employs its own loss prevention specialists, working with researchers and investigators and sharing intelligence about Lego crime rings. In the US, law enforcement the way from local and state municipalities up to the homeland security department are involved.

“They may detain somebody or apprehend somebody that’s stealing them, and then that person flips or tells them, ‘Look, here’s why I’m doing it and who I’m doing it with,’” Hayes said.

He added that threats also lurk within stores, with “bad apple” employees colluding with outside thieves and unauthorized retailers and dealers.

“The store may have 20 of these [new sets] embargoed, and an employee may steal them or help a friend. You’re monitoring the theft activity and trying to diagnose it from that end, and then on the on the other end you’re looking for: where is this being converted to cash?” he said.