Tokyo police recently arrested two suspects on suspicion of stealing a rare “Blue Eyes White Dragon” trading card from a store near Akihabara Station in Tokyo. The card was reportedly worth ¥4.98 million ($33,000). The suspects, 22-year-old Sora Takashino and Kanta Sanmi, were accused of conspiring to steal the card.

According to the police, Takashino entered the trading card store in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward at around 4:50 p.m. on March 13, and requested the store clerk to take out the card from its display case so he could inspect its condition. The clerk obliged and handed over the card to Takashino. While the clerk was distracted, Takashino then surreptitiously pocketed the card and quickly left the store. Sanmi, who was waiting outside in the car, drove him away from the scene of the crime.

The store clerk promptly alerted the police upon realizing that the card had been stolen. The authorities launched an investigation and tracked down the suspects via the license plate number of the getaway car. Sanmi later confessed to driving Takashino away from the store but claimed that he had no idea that Takashino was going to steal the card. Takashino, on the other hand, admitted to all charges according to the police.

The stolen card was reportedly sold for ¥1 million at a specialty store in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro district about three hours after the theft. A customer at the Ikebukuro store found the two men suspicious and notified the police of the transaction. The suspects were believed to be acquaintances who had worked at the same construction site in 2023.