Sheriff’s deputies in Southern California recovered about $1 million worth of stolen Lego products last week, arresting three men in the case.
Kern County deputies responded last Wednesday to reports of suspicious vehicles around Silver Queen Road in Mojave. Two box trucks tried to flee, but deputies pulled them over and found a large haul of Lego sets inside.
During a search of the surrounding area, deputies discovered two stolen freight trailers that had been carrying the merchandise from Fort Worth, Texas, to Moreno Valley, California.
The three arrested men were identified as Jose Lopez, 37, of San Bernardino; Ruben Lopez Flores, 25, of Los Angeles; and Freddy Hernandez Polinar, 35, of Chino. They face charges of cargo theft, possession of a stolen vehicle and conspiracy.
A rise in Lego black markets has been attributed to high demand for the toy building blocks and the lure of high resale prices.
Last month, two men in Albuquerque, New Mexico, were caught stealing more than $10,000 worth of Lego sets from a Target store and reselling them to secondhand retailers.
