Oregon police claim to have busted Lego theft scheme

An operation carried out by Springfield Police Department in Oregon has recovered stolen Lego toys worth around $200,000.

According to a Facebook post by the department, the Lego was seized at a retail store in Eugene, Oregon, the owner of which is suspected of buying sets for cash that had been stolen from other, nearby toy stores. The store under investigation is Brick Builders of Willamette Street.

Officers served a search warrant at Brick Builders on July 3 and recovered 4,153 Lego sets.  It is reported that the people who stole the sets received only a fraction of their retail value, and that suspects told police in interviews that the staff at the store knew that the Lego sets had been stolen recently.

An attorney for the owner of the business told NBC that the sets showed in police pictures were limited editions that Brick Builders had traded with other collectors across the US and are not available in stories as they are no longer being manufactured for regular sale.