A specialized collectibles store in the eastern French city of Bourgoin-Jallieu was targeted in a burglary, with thieves making off with "Pokemon" trading cards valued at approximately 80,000 euros.
According to Operative Information Center-OMM, citing foreign media reports, the incident occurred at approximately 04:00 local time.
The store owner reported that four masked individuals forced entry by breaking the main entrance door. The perpetrators, who stole hundreds of cards from the "Smogtrade" shop, fled the scene in a vehicle immediately after the alarm system was triggered. It has been confirmed that the stolen inventory consisted almost entirely of rare, high-value Japanese "Pokemon" collectible cards.
In recent years, rare trading cards have increasingly become targets for organized theft due to their rising market value among collectors globally. This incident follows a pattern of similar crimes; in February 2024, three individuals were sentenced in Rennes, France, for the theft of tens of thousands of "Pokemon" cards valued at approximately 100,000 euros. Furthermore, in January of the previous year, a specialized store in the United Kingdom reported the theft of collectible cards worth roughly 87,000 euros. The market for these items remains highly lucrative, highlighted by the record-breaking sale of a rare "Pikachu" card at auction for 14.3 million euros just one month after the UK incident.
