Shop owners ramp up security due to rise in Pokémon card thefts

Key points

• Benjamin Hill returned to his collectables store in Blair Athol to find the ceiling smashed and roughly $20,000 in Pokémon and other trading cards missing. He said the alleged thief entered through a back toilet door and crawled through the ceiling in early September.
• Hill believes the cards were targeted because they are small, hard to trace and easy to resell, with some rare examples fetching millions at auction. South Australian police have arrested and charged a 47-year-old man over the alleged break-in.
• Hill has since upgraded security and removed valuable stock from the premises.