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It’s not rare for law enforcement to stumble upon a stash of bricks worth a staggering amount of money after executing a drug raid, but police in Australia treated us to an unexpected twist on that particular formula after seizing a massive stockpile of Legos that were discovered during a raid in Melbourne.
The folks at Lego have been pumping out the iconic building blocks for close to a century, and the toys that have played a fundamental role in the childhood of people around the world are a very lucrative venture for a company that raked in over $9 billion in global revenue in 2022.
The toy sets can actually be a pretty solid investment if you play your cards right (one study even suggested they have a higher upside than gold), and it appears some people in Australia were relying on Legos for some extra income based on a massive collection that was likely acquired through some less-than-legal means.
According to The Guardian, police recently raided a property in the city of Melbourne that was allegedly home to a meth lab as well as 1,130 boxes of Lego sets that were found alongside a fake gun, piles of cash, and a couple of storage boxes filled with valuable gemstones.
A spokesperson acknowledged the unique nature of the discovery by noting “This is the first time our detectives have seized a Lego collection” and said the toy sets—which are valued at around $130,000—took up so much space they needed a dedicated truck to transport them from the property to the police station.
It’s unclear if the Legos were purchased legally or if they were obtained in an unscrupulous manner (when you consider they were discovered in a meth lab, my money is on the latter), but authorities say they’ve justified the decision to confiscate them by framing them as “proceeds of crime.”