Toy stores in France have been targeted by an international gang of Lego thieves trying to steal valuable collectible sets.
The Paris police announced the arrest of a criminal group whose representatives specialized in Lego constructors. As a result of the raid, three immigrants from Poland were taken into custody - two men and one woman. They were arrested during a raid on a toy store located in the town of Yvelines, located on the outskirts of Paris.
The officer who carried out the arrests, quoted by Le Parisien, said that the criminals worked according to an already worked out scheme - they came to France for a few days, settled in a town near Paris, then raided and immediately returned back to Poland to sell trophies.
Collectible Lego sets are compact and light enough to transport and, most importantly, do not lose value. On the contrary, over the years they only become more valuable. Today, when children spend most of their time at home due to the coronavirus pandemic, the demand for famous designers has increased significantly. However, as you know, Lego is played not only by children, but also by adults, many of whom really appreciate collectible sets. The resale value of especially valuable and rare items can sometimes reach $15,000. Not surprisingly, the famous designers attract the attention of thieves from all over the world.
According to the same French policeman, he knows cases when thieves climbed not only into shops, but also into private houses, in order to steal already purchased sets. But, of course, unopened designers from stores are much more valuable.
France is far from the only country in which such incidents occur. So, in 2014, Arizona police arrested 4 people, returning stolen Lego sets worth $145,000. In the same year, there were several attacks on toy stores in Australia, as a result of which the kidnappers managed to carry out the designers in the amount of $ 22,000.
Photo: depositphotos.com.
