Business was stacking up. Then it all came crashing down.

Raji Afife Azar

A Southeast Portland man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of soliciting the theft of Legos and other items and selling them online for large profits, police said. Photos of the illicit stash show Legos piled high and enough merch to line parts of Raji Afife Azar's driveway.

Azar, 40, is set to be arraigned Friday in Multnomah County Circuit Court on over two-dozen felonies, records show. He was jailed Thursday and released on his own recognizance.

But once he was initially taken into custody, authorities served a search warrant at his family's home in the 2000 block of 102nd Avenue, according to Portland police. Fred Meyer investigators estimate the value of recovered Legos and other toys stolen from their stores is about $50,000 — a figure that doesn't include the value of things stolen from other businesses, police say.

Detectives think Azar would solicit thefts through websites like Craigslist and OfferUp, which allow people to browse items for sale and arrange for their purchase. He'd then buy the stolen items then turn around and sell them online, according to police.

Often the people who would steal the merchandise and sell it to Azar were drug addicts, according to police.

Authorities arrested him after a transaction he arranged with undercover investigators who he thought were thieves, police said. Fred Meyer Organized Retail Theft Unit investigators first learned Azar was heading the fencing — or illegal sale — operation early this year, according to police.

Azar has no criminal record in Oregon, according to court records. Records show he cares for his parents. He lives with his parents and sister and is employed by a hospital, the records show.

He's accused of aggravated first-degree theft, first-degree theft, laundering a monetary instrument and computer crime, according to police.

"Investigators remind anyone purchasing items from a non-retail location to be aware of items sold as 'new' or in unopened packages with prices that seem too good to be true - the items may be stolen," Portland police said in a news release.

— Jim Ryan