(Photo: Daryl Harding)

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police announced today that they have arrested two men on the suspicion of stealing 539 Pokémon cards from a trading card shop in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward. This is the latest arrest after a string of high-profile robberies targeting trading card stores across Japan, specifically Pokémon cards.

The pair are suspected of robbing the trading card store on August 17, 2021, and stealing 539 valuable Pokémon cards that are worth a total of 26.6 million yen (US$204.4 million). The most valuable card stolen was worth 590,000 yen (US$4,536), though it wasn’t mentioned what the card was.

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They both confessed to taking part with one of the two mentioned that applied for a “dark part-time job,” a job that is affiliated with a crime that usually promises a high reward and is found via social media.

Last month, three others were arrested for other Pokémon card-related crimes. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police are investigating whether or not this crime was in connection with six other robberies that have targeted Pokémon cards and other collector items, though haven’t found any connections as of yet. 

Source: Sankei

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Daryl Harding is a Senior Japan Correspondent for Crunchyroll News. He also runs a YouTube channel about Japan stuff called TheDoctorDazza, tweets at @DoctorDazza, and posts photos of his travels on Instagram.