'Pokémon Bandits' Tunnel Into Los Angeles Card Shop, Stealing $200K Worth of Collectibles

LOS ANGELES, CA — A meticulously planned heist has left a local hobby and collectible shop reeling after burglars tunneled through an adjacent wall to steal nearly $200,000 in high-value Pokémon cards.

Dubbed the "Pokémon bandits" by local enthusiasts, the thieves targeted the store on February 21, 2026. Rather than risk triggering alarms at the storefront, the perpetrators gained entry to a neighboring vacant commercial space. From there, they cut a hole directly through the drywall and security backing to access the storage area of the card shop, bypassing the main security gates.

Once inside, the suspects bypassed lower-value stock and systematically cleared out the store's most valuable inventory, including vintage booster packs, highly graded individual cards, and rare collectible boxes. The owner expressed devastation, noting that the stolen items represented years of curation and a major financial cornerstone for the business. Los Angeles police are investigating the break-in, focusing on the sophisticated nature of the entry and searching for any local security footage that may have captured the suspects transporting the large boxes of stolen merchandise.