Police have dismantled a criminal syndicate suspected of stealing $50,000 worth of collectables, including sought-after Pokemon cards, from several hobby shops across metropolitan Melbourne.
Detectives have arrested four men in connection to the alleged syndicate, which is also accused of being involved in a series of commercial burglaries targeting cryptocurrency ATMs at businesses across the city.
Graded Pokémon cards can fetch up to tens of thousands of dollars in online markets.Credit: Joe Armao
The arrests come after more than a dozen shops were ransacked over the past six months, which has prompted business owners to spend thousands of dollars beefing up security to protect valuable stock.
Shop owners told The Age the thieves had made away with an estimated $1 million in trading cards and other stock, which had left some businesses to consider shutting down for good.
The thieves are believed to have been looking for valuable Pokemon trading cards, which can retail online for tens of thousands and even millions of dollars, depending on when they were printed, their condition and how many of them can be found around the world.
The world’s most expensive card, featuring original character Pikachu, a yellow electric rodent-like creature that accompanies protagonist Ash Ketchum in the original 1997 version of the Pokemon series, sold for $8.3 million to American influencer and professional wrestler Logan Paul in 2022.
In a statement released on Monday, police said the people they had arrested were believed to have used stolen cars to steal six crypto terminals from businesses in Hoppers Crossing, Bentleigh, Brunswick, Werribee and Vermont, and to loot hobby stores in Epping, Moonee Ponds and Eumemmerring since mid-January.
Police said investigators had uncovered “an Aladdin’s cave of items” including $50,000 worth of Pokemon, Disney Lorcana, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Magic: The Gathering, Dragon Ball Z, AFL and NBA trading cards during raids on properties in Reservoir, Coburg North, Greensborough and South Morang over the past week.
Among other items seized, police said, were five firearms, ammunition, 100 stolen car keys, a pill press machine and stolen power tools.
Detective Inspector Patrick Watkinson, from the North West Metro Regional Crime Squad, said the group, which he described as a “significant network of offenders”, were being tasked to commit the robberies by organised crime syndicates.
Police officers arrest one of the men allegedly involved in the syndicate.Credit: Victoria Police
“We are confident that we have apprehended the main offenders who were sharing their criminal trade craft with lesser offenders,” Watkinson said.
“Paying others to do your dirty work won’t keep you hidden. With every arrest, we move one step closer to dismantling your enterprise and all those connected to it, seizing your illicit wealth and holding you accountable.
“Your luck will eventually run out.”
Daniel Cleghorn has been charged with 14 counts of burglary, being a prohibited person in possession of a traffickable quantity of firearms, being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm, and handling stolen goods. The 37-year-old from Reservoir will appear in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on May 2.
Brandon Hart, 32, has been charged with five commercial burglaries, three counts of motor vehicle theft, driving without a licence, possessing methamphetamine and possessing a prohibited weapon. Hart, from Epping, will appear in court on February 21.
The other two men arrested were released pending further investigation.
Anyone with information about drug or firearm trafficking is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or file a confidential report online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.
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