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When authorities seize hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bricks, they usually aren’t referring to LEGO.
But that’s exactly what the California Highway Patrol discovered when serving search warrants at four sites in Los Angeles and Orange counties on Tuesday, the agency said in a press release.
Investigators discovered what they estimate to be $300,000 worth of LEGO sets that had been stolen from stores like Target, Home Depot and Lowe’s, then given to fences to be sold to people and stores under the guise of being legitimately procured.
Photos provided by the CHP show the April 9, 2024, seizure of a cache of allegedly stolen legos. 
Photos provided by the CHP show the April 9, 2024, seizure of a cache of allegedly stolen legos. 
Photos provided by the CHP show the April 9, 2024, seizure of a cache of allegedly stolen legos. 
Photos provided by the CHP show the April 9, 2024, seizure of a cache of allegedly stolen legos. 
Photos provided by the CHP show the April 9, 2024, seizure of a cache of allegedly stolen legos. 
Photos provided by the CHP show the April 9, 2024, seizure of a cache of allegedly stolen legos.
Four people were arrested on charges related to organized retail theft, grand theft and conspiracy:
- Jeremy Johnson, 44, of Orange
- Marta Hardt, 39, of Huntington Beach
- Chung-Pei Yu, 47, of Studio City
- Shen Li, 35, of Brea
If you have information about organized retail theft, you can report it to the CHP here.
