Seemingly everything has value – you just have to find the right customer/audience to extract it. And with anything of value, there will inevitably be those who try to exploit that customer or fan base to the extreme – mostly using illegal methods. Case in point – LEGO.
LEGO Bricks are one of those things where, if you didn’t know or weren’t a certified “Brick-Head“, you wouldn’t realize the worth of.
PRO TIP: They’re Quite Valuable.
So-much-so Oregon police uncovered a LEGO fencing operation – with over $200k worth of illegally-obtained LEGO sets.
This brick bust followed a three-month investigation where 4,153 stolen LEGO sets were recovered.
The Springfield Police Department in Eugene, Oregon, served a warrant to 47-year old Ammon Henrikson, the owner of “Brick Builders,” accusing him of knowingly purchasing new and unopened Lego sets that had been stolen from other local retail stores (Target, Barnes & Noble, Wal-Mart).
According to the arrest warrant,
“In several instances, suspects stole hundreds of dollars’ worth of Lego sets and then immediately went to the Brick Builders store to exchange the stolen items for cash: most often at a fraction of their actual retail value. 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.”
Henrikson has since been charged with organized retail theft and theft by receiving.
SO not “Everything Is Awesome” it would seem.
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