Children cheered as "chocolate robbers'' were cuffed then stuffed into the back of a police car in Dunedin yesterday.
More than 500 passengers were on board the Cadbury Crunchie Train as part of the Cadbury Chocolate Carnival.
The passengers included two men with a taste for chocolate and a life of crime.
But the thieves' plans for a sweet heist on the return trip from Dunedin to Hindon were foiled by the clever children on the 17 carriages.
Mackenzie Hallberg (12) said he suspected early on that the men were up to no good.
Ben Baskett (6) said on the train he tried to stop a man, who was wearing a poncho and sombrero.
The shady character gave a excuse to flee the scene.
``He said he was going on a chocolate run but he just wanted to get away.''
``We got him though,'' Sam Baskett (8) said.
Arresting policemen Sergeant John Hedges and Constable Kerrin Williams were waiting on the platform at Dunedin Railway Station and took the handcuffed golden Crunchie thieves into custody.
Children, some wearing cowboy hats and sheriff's badges, cheered loudly as the chocolate bandits were escorted to the police car on the platform and secured in the back seats.
Both officers thanked the children for fighting crime.
Sgt Hedges said the men would be facing charges of theft of chocolate.
``It's the best arrest of the year,'' Sgt Hedges said.
