Thieves made off with around $180,000 worth of Pokemon cards after tunneling through the wall of a California collectibles store in an overnight burglary.
Police say the suspects broke into a neighboring business before smashing through a shared wall to reach DOWE Collectibles in Anaheim, where they stole hundreds of valuable cards in minutes.
Surveillance footage shows the group using tools to break into display cases before fleeing the scene with the stolen cards.
Thieves knew what they were looking for
Speaking to KTLA, which reported the total value of goods stolen as $180,000, the store’s owner, Duy Pham, said he discovered the break-in after receiving a security alert in the early hours of the morning.
“I clicked on the footage and saw guys coming through the hole,” Pham said. “My heart was pounding.” Pham said the suspects appeared to know exactly what they were looking for and ignored other items inside the store.
“They were here for the cards. One card can be worth up to $10,000. People see the money is there,” he told the site.
More than 500 cards were reportedly stolen, though it’s not known if these were raw copies of expensive cards, or condition-graded by third parties such as PSA and Beckett. According to police reports, the suspects left the scene in a dark-colored vehicle.
While still the exception rather than the rule, YouTube and WWE star Logan Paul sold one of the rarest and oldest Pokemon TCG cards in the world for more than $16 million earlier this month.
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