A man has been charged after allegedly stealing tens of thousands of limited edition coins based on the hit children's television series Bluey.
NSW Police said on Wednesday the 47-year-old man had been arrested under Strike Force Bandit.
The coins, produced by the Australian Mint, were meant to enter circulation in September. Source: Supplied / NSW Police Force/Facebook
Police will allege in court that the 47-year-old was an employee at the warehouse and stole the packages from the back of a truck on 23 June.
"We will allege he was aware the consignment contained Australian currency, and that he then facilitated the theft of that currency," Detective Superintendent Joseph Doueihi told reporters on Wednesday.
Police will also allege the man sold the coins online hours after he stole them and that they were now being sold online for 10 times their face value.
Bluey (centre) and Bandit (left) in an episode of the show. Credit: ABC iView
Doueihi said only a small number of the coins had been accounted for.
He said that during the investigation police had found an "innocent", genuine coin collector was selling some of the coins.
"[They] had innocently come into possession of those items," Doueihi said.
Police executed a search warrant at a property in Sefton, western Sydney, last Wednesday morning. They located and seized 189 coins and an unspecified number of electronic devices.
They then executed another search warrant at a property in Westmead, also in western Sydney, on Wednesday, where they arrested the 47-year-old man.
The man has been charged with three counts of breaking and entering to commit a serious indictable offence.
He faced Parramatta Local Court on Wednesday and was denied bail. He will return to court on 3 October.
NSW Police arrested a 47-year-old man after executing a search warrant at a property in western Sydney today. Source: Supplied / NSW Police Force/Facebook
"[The coins are] in circulation now, and that's no issue to us," he said. But if you have information where bulk quantities of these coins are stored, we ask that you contact ... Crime Stoppers."
He said police believe "another two men were involved in the theft of these items".
"I anticipate that those males will be identified in the very near future, and I anticipate they will be arrested," Doueihi said.
With reporting by the Australian Associated Press.
