Man steals ¥2.2m in Pokémon cards

A 25-year-old company worker was arrested in Tokyo on suspicion of stealing 2.2 million yen (about US$15,738) worth of Pokémon trading cards from a store in Yamanashi Prefecture's Fujiyoshida City.

One card was reportedly worth up to ¥180,000 or $1,288, NHK reported on Tuesday.

The police reported that the suspect, Yūki Murakami from Tokyo's Ōta ward, entered the store at approximately 1 a.m. on May 8 and stole 74 cards in total.

The Card Shop Mero store in Fujiyoshida City posted an image of the ransacked store at 9:45 a.m. later that day. The store's management noted in a tweet that the showcase was broken and the back area was in disarray. Fortunately, no staff members suffered were harmed because the incident took place at night.

Police found the suspect in security camera footage. Murakami admitted that he stole cards to sell them, and that he was also stealing from other stores.

Police also seized a large quantity of Pokémon cards from other stores at Murakami's house, and are investigating his connection to other incidents in the Kanto region.