Summary
- The former head of a crime syndicate said his organization used Pokémon cards to launder money.
- The group used advanced metal detectors to find foil cards in packs.
- Pokémon recently launched an app with digital trading cards, Pokémon TCG Pocket, and it just got its first major update.
Over the years, some Pokémon cards have skyrocketed in value, and it seems some criminal groups in Japan have taken notice of them.
Speaking to Shunkan Gendai Online, the former head of a Japanese crime syndicate tells them that his organization was using Pokémon cards to launder stolen money aboard (via IGN, translated by Automaton).
The former head of the crime syndicate explained that, since Pokémon cards are so small, they are easy to buy, stowaway and transport aboard. But how do these groups find and obtain valuable Pokémon cards?
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Expensive Pokémon cards typically have a shiny foil on them to denote the fact they’re rare or valuable. So, the crime syndicate would buy many packs in bulk and use an advanced metal detector to pick up the foil on any cards from outside the packaging. They even used scales to detect the slightest differences in weight between card packs.
These methods let the crime syndicate resell packs they didn’t open for face value and take rare cards they found and sell them individually at very high prices. It’s unsurprising to see a crime syndicate do this, considering the exorbitant prices some rare Pokémon cards are going for nowadays.
Perhaps it’s a good thing Pokémon is shifting to the digital side of things with the Pokémon TCG Pocket app, which launched in October. The mobile game lets users collect and battle digital Pokémon trading cards, and the game is making heaps of money for the Pokémon Company. It recently launched its first significant update, Mythical Island, which adds 86 new cards to the game plus new missions and rewards.
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