Police in Laval, Que., say there was an increase in Pokémon card robberies which are getting extra violent in nature.
Ten suspects have been just lately arrested in reference to a number of armed thefts, 4 of which concerned the sale of the favored playing cards, investigators mentioned in a information launch Thursday.
These suspects, who’re additionally accused of concentrating on folks promoting MacBooks, used Fb Market to rearrange gross sales in a public place with victims, police mentioned. When it got here time to finish the transaction, the suspects used violence to drive the victims at hand over the merchandise and fled with out paying.
Not less than 30 thefts involving Pokémon playing cards have been reported to police since Jan. 1, 2025. Eleven of these have occurred since March 1, police mentioned. Seven of them concerned acts of violence, together with victims being pepper-sprayed.
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The ten suspects have been arrested between June 9 and 11 and are between the ages of 16 and 18. They face a number of prices, together with armed theft, possession of a weapon for a harmful function, assault and possession and trafficking of property obtained by crime.
Pokémon playing cards have gone from being a childhood playground recreation to worthwhile investments — some price 1000’s and even thousands and thousands of {dollars}. Because of this, a number of thefts have been reported throughout Canada this 12 months.
Vancouver police arrested a person in April accused of robbing 5 folks through the use of bear spray. He would work together with them on Fb Market, police mentioned. A few of the playing cards stolen have been reportedly price 1000’s of {dollars}.
In March, masked thieves broke into an Abbotsford, B.C., collectibles store and stole roughly $30,000 price of Pokémon playing cards.
Calgary police mentioned in November 2025 that they have been engaged in an ongoing investigation into Pokémon card thefts, whereas RCMP in Fort McMurray, Alta., mentioned final August that they’d made an arrest after $20,000 in playing cards have been reported stolen.
Laval police issued a collection of prevention suggestions of their information launch, together with for folks to confirm the authenticity of the vendor’s or potential purchaser’s account, be cautious of modifications in assembly factors or intermediaries for the transaction, hold proof of the transaction and concentrate on their environment.
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