Pokémon collector had cards worth thousands stolen but alleged thieves made one mistake that gave them away
A Pokémon card collector was able to locate his stolen cards and the thieves who took them because of one unexpected mistake.
Emilio Kihien said it all began when he arranged to sell three valuable cards on Facebook Marketplace.
Pokémon cards can be a lucrative collectible depending on how rare the cards are. Logan Paul made history after buying a Pikachu Illustrator card in July 2021 for $5,275,000, setting a Guinness World Record for the most expensive Pokémon card ever sold. Paul managed to sell it for a whopping $16.492 million, making it the most expensive trading card ever sold at auction.
A buyer who was interesting in purchasing Pokémon cards went to Kihien’s home in Vancouver. But the transaction didn’t go as planned.
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According to Kihien, the prospective buyer gave him $4,000 in counterfeit cash and took the cards with them.
Kihien tried to the stop the suspects by chasing after them and holding on to their car as it drove away.
But he soon realised that there was nothing he could do to.
“I put the cards in his hand. As soon as they’re in his hand, he just starts running,” told CTV News.
“I called the cops, I let them know what happened, they kind of let me know we can’t really do that much,” he said.
But Kihien’s fortunes changed just a few days later when friends alerted him about a suspicious new online Pokémon listing.
The cards that were allegedly stolen were up for sale and Kihien says he knew the cards were his because of one huge mistake the alleged thieves made.
Kihien says the listing used the exact same pictures from his original listing. “I’m just thinking, you know what, these guys can’t be the most intelligent of people.”
Kihien said he and his friends created a plan to arrange another meet-up with whoever took his cards as a ploy. They arranged to meet the new sellers at Metropolis at Metrotown in Burnaby on Aug. 13.
At the meeting, Kihien and his friends gave a whole new meaning to the phrase “gotta catch ‘em all” when he they confronted and apprehended the alleged thieves and held them there until police arrived.
Kihien and his friends used sunglasses that can record video to document the chaos that unfolded.
“The mission was: Hold these guys down until the cops get here and get my cards back,” he said, explaining to the news outlet that he wanted to resolve the issue without violence.
The investigation is ongoing, according to the police department Burnaby RCMP.
One adult and one youth were initially arrested.
“It was a bit of mayhem going on for our officers to figure out what actually happened,” said Cpl. Michael Kalanj with Burnaby RCMP.
However, the police is urging people to avoid taking matters like this into their own hands.
“Vigilantism can only cause problems because no one knows who has weapons,” said Kalanj. “Even as the victim, if you show up and you harm someone now you’re looking at charges as well.”
Kihien was able to get his cards back and says he is sharing his story as a cautionary tale for anyone buying or selling items online.
The public could consider meeting at a designated safe exchange location which could include police stations.
“I had no issues with the Pokémon community before this, no issues with Marketplace meet-ups, but you really never know.”
Greg Harris