Qld opal find likened to Aladdin's cave

The discovery of stolen opals on the Gold Coast has been described as one of the biggest ever police seizures of stolen property.

The gems, reportedly worth more than $4 million, have been seized during a routine police check.

The opals were stolen from property tycoon John Fish's Hope Island residence in March last year.

On Tuesday they were found inside a house on a large property at Guanaba.

Detective Superintendent David Hutchinson valued the rest of the haul, without the opals, at $2 million.

"If it's not the biggest, it's one of the biggest," he told reporters of the haul.

"It's certainly a large seizure of property."

A 41-year-old man has been charged with break and enter offences, with others expected to be charged.

"It's a very lengthy list of property that's been recovered and ... we could safely assume it's been an organised group of people involved," Det Supt said.

Police also discovered an excavator, trucks, tools and an array of household appliances at that property on the Gold Coast hinterland, which has several sheds.

"What started off as a potential routine inquiry has rolled into something much bigger," Det Supt Hutchinson said.

"As a consequence of that initial inquiry, they've basically come across a bit of an Aladdin's cave and it's just rolled on from there."

The haul also included 15 mobile phones, nine computers, 41 television sets and four refrigerators.