Grand Theft Lego: Police Break Up Stolen-Brick Selling Ring

Police in Oregon have broken up an alleged scheme that involved buying and reselling stolen Lego sets.

The Springfield Police Department's Crime Reduction Unit is probably used to cracking down criminal syndicates where people are dealing bricks, but those are usually a very different kind of brick, not the molded plastic Lego variety.

According to KVAL, the SPU just wrapped up a three-month investigation into a Lego store that was allegedly selling stolen sets. They claim that one store called Brick Builders — yes, that's a store that sells Legos — was buying sets that they were well aware had been stolen from other local retailers.

These sets were then allegedly purchased for well below retail value and then sold in the shop, with some of the thieves using the money they received in this transaction on drugs.

The store's owner, 47-year-old Ammon Henrikson has been charged with Organized Retail Theft and Theft I By Receiving, and if you think there were just a couple of little sets involved in this, you'd be mistaken.

Police say that they recovered 4,153 sets of Legos with a total value of over $200,000.

I would never condone any criminal acts… but I can understand how this one happens.

Dealing blocks is a tough way to make a buck. (Getty Images)

Dealing Legos Seems Like A Tough Business

People love Legos. There's a Lego store at Disney Springs that has a line out the door every day of the year. Seriously, it looks like a night club and there's a bouncer that decides if you can go in and browse the models of the Death Star or Formula 1 cars (those are sweet, by the way).

But, if you open a store that deals exclusively in Legos that isn't a certified Lego Store, that's pretty niche. I mean, you have to have a certain level of obsession with everyone's favorite non-Smurf Danish export to go to a specialty retailer for them. So, it's a tough business, and any way you can increase your profit margins will be tempting.

I would probably cut my Legos with Mega Blocks before I started buying hot sets from sticky-fingered junkies, but that's just me.

"We all feel the impact of organized retail theft through the increasing cost of items we buy for our families. Recognizing this, SPD’s Crime Reduction Unit, with the support of our retail partners, works diligently to hold accountable those who make the choice to engage in or support retail theft. SPD is proud of the work of our officers, and we are committed to the pursuit of those behind these crimes in our community." Chief Andrew Shearer said.

Good on Springfield's finest for cracking down on retail theft.