Several people have been arrested for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of Pokémon cards from a store in Japan. NHK World-Japan reports five people are now in custody for the theft that occurred last July.
Japanese police tell NHK World-Japan that the stolen Pokémon cards were worth around $665,000, with some of the cards in the range of $40,000 each.
Authorities say the suspects were able to break into the shop by smashing a window.
Stealing Pokémon cards has become a global concern. In Washington state last month, a man was accused of stealing $50,000 worth of Pokémon cards from a storage unit.
In Canada, there have been multiple break-ins where tens of thousands of dollars of Pokémon cards were snatched. CBC News reports that $13,000 worth of cards were stolen in the town of Guelph in three separate thefts in September.
“This problem is not a new one at all, it’s been going on for quite some time and the ease of being able to make money off it is part of it,” says Jenn Haines, owner of the games and comic book store The Dragon, to CBC News.
Guelph police say it’s difficult to track down the stolen cards.
“Both in thefts of sports cards and non-sports cards and most often its shoplifting type calls, but also we’ve noticed a couple of recent break and enters, where among other things, cards were stolen as well,” Guelph Police spokesperson Scott Tracey tells CBC News.
In November, another massive Pokémon theft hit Guelph, where $6,500 worth of cards were stolen.
“Two of the men attempted to distract staff while the third walked our with the cart, setting off security alarms,” police told the Toronto Star.
One arrest was made in the Canadian September thefts.