After pushing the big blue buzzer, it takes almost 10 minutes for a staff member to arrive with the key to the secure cabinet. But even then, buyers aren’t trusted to handle the goods – this is only the first line of defence.
These are not knives, medicines or gift vouchers. It’s Lego, the much-loved kids toy that’s been around since the 1950s, held at a Kmart store in Melbourne’s CBD.
Today, even a basic Star Wars Lego set that retails for $12 must be hand carried to the register by a store clerk, and is placed in the hands of the shopper only when the transaction has been finalised.
Some sets are considered too valuable to be put out on the floor at all, instead replaced by plastic cards that have to be taken to a customer service counter and paid for in advance.
Others are wrapped in anti-theft cables that are attached to alarms. But despite these protective measures, thieves doing a quick grab and dash with a box of Lego in hand is a regular occurrence.
“You would not believe how much of a problem we have with Lego. It just disappears if we don’t protect it,” a Kmart employee said.
Other speciality toy shops have had to go even further – reinforcing their doors and windows, and installing special metal shutters to further protect their properties against “ram raids” using vehicles.
These are the measures required to guard what has become one of the retail blackmarket’s hottest little money-earners.
To criminals, Lego is like gold – high-value, in demand, portable and untraceable.
Opportunistic thieves and gangland professionals alike have seized on the tiny plastic bricks as a way to cash in, launder dirty money, and hide their assets.
And the amount of money involved in black market Lego can be massive.
Last month, a police raid in Adelaide uncovered $320,000 worth of Lego hidden in the garage of a suburban home that was part of a sophisticated retail theft operation that had targeted toy stores and retailers around the city. Stacked up, it came to 15 pallets worth.
Seven months earlier, $250,000 worth of Lego was seized from a different criminal syndicate in Adelaide running mass retail thefts.
Last year in Victoria, Lego reseller Brick Evolution was targeted by a professional burglary crew: Six men in masks, gloves and headlamps broke into the Cheltenham store and cleaned out more than 130 sets in less than 10 minutes.
“They gutted the store,” owner Chris Hurwood told The Age. “They targeted all the top-end, big sets. They went for big because big means expensive.”
The Lego was stacked at the door of the shop by the thieves before being moved into a waiting van and car. “They did a good job. I’ve never seen such efficiency. Hurried but not rushed,” Hurwood said.
Brick Evolution lost $60,000 worth of stock and had to reinforce its security.
“Lego is an easy, easy sell and it’s so popular. There’s so much of a market for it. There’s all this talk about how it’s a better asset than gold and stocks and things. And that’s where your criminal gangs are getting into it,” Hurwood said.
Other retailers have been hit multiple times. Some “smash and grab”-style thieves have even resorted to violence.
In August 2025, two men brandishing a drill bit staged an armed robbery of a Sunbury toy store, making off with $1000 worth of Lego.
Lego has also been turning up in large volumes during police raids on organised crime gangs over clandestine drug labs or millions of dollars worth of methamphetamine.
Nearly $200,000 worth of Lego was seized as evidence in a $27 million money-laundering investigation in 2021.
In the United States, three men were arrested and charged last week after they were found driving a box truck carrying an estimated $1.4 million worth of stolen Lego.
Much of this stolen “plastic gold” ends up being sold through online marketplaces like Facebook and eBay, sources say.
Sellers blatantly market “unopened” or “brand new” Lego sets at discounts of 25 per cent or more off the retail price and often demand payment strictly in cash.
It’s common for “smash and grab” thieves – rather than organised theft or burglary syndicates – to demand about 50 per cent of the retail price when first selling it, which makes it a good return for street gangs and drug addicts compared to other stolen goods.
Lego sets also do not have individual serial numbers, making it impossible to tell legitimate sets apart from those stolen.
“Collectibles have always been attractive for criminals. Either as a means to earn money from their resale or as an exchange item for another commodity, for example narcotics,” said Chris Douglas, former Australian Federal Police officer turned financial crime consultant.
The targeting of Lego comes amid a massive surge in retail theft across the nation.
“While there will always be some level of opportunistic theft, the bigger challenge now is the growing threat posed by repeat offenders and organised criminal activity,” Australian Retail Council chief Chris Rodwell said.
“Data shows that roughly 60 per cent of harm in retail stores is caused by just 10 per cent of offenders. That is why targeted action against prolific offenders is so important.”
In Australia, one of Lego’s main distribution points is a warehouse in Melbourne’s western suburb of Truganina, where the sets are housed in high-security conditions – all 26,000 pallets.
A source familiar with the centre’s operations said fear about Lego slipping into the black market meant even scuffed and damaged boxed sets were locked in a steel cage and sent for incineration rather than put into the rubbish.
Yet, Lego’s corporate owners and its distributors and retailers in Australia simply refuse to talk about the black market problem.
Lego Group, which sold $14 billion worth of the bricks and related merchandise worldwide in 2024, declined to comment when contacted by this masthead. Woolworths, the owner of Big W, also declined to comment. Wesfarmers, which runs Kmart and Target, did not respond to a request for comment.
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