Japanese police stumped by series of Pokemon card store burglaries in Tokyo

Multiple burglaries involving a fortune of Pokemon Cards have Tokyo police absolutely stumped.

Throughout 2022, there were multiple crimes involving Pokemon cards all over the world, but it turns out that Japan has a major problem with burglaries in its capital city.

According to a new report by Japan Times, several businesses in Tokyo have been targeted thanks to their expensive card collections, with “millions” stolen in the past several months.

The investigation has police stunned, but it also appears that in every case, the criminals have been using the same technique each time.

Pokemon card crime wave plagues Tokyo

Since last summer, many stores in Tokyo’s famous Akihabara district were targeted, but even stores in the Machida suburbs selling expensive cards weren’t off-limits.

Sources at Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department state that 60 cards worth ¥8.5 million ($64,500) were stolen from the store in early December.

Machida and other stores were all hit the same way, with the burglars breaking into the store after dark once they were closed and then stealing the merch.

“I’ve never heard of such cases happening so successively,” said a senior investigative source.

So far, at least five burglaries have been confirmed in Tokyo alone since the summer of 2022, and it’s anyone’s guess how many stores in other cities have been targeted.