In Japan, a 28-year-old man was arrested in March after allegedly breaking into a trading card store and stealing Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! trading cards.
A man was also charged in Pennsylvania for allegedly stealing 21 packs of Pokémon cards from a Sheetz store in March.
The New York Times reported on Friday that U.S. retail chain TARGET has temporarily halted sales of Pokémon Trading Card Game cards — along with sports trading cards — “citing a threat to the safety of customers and workers.”
The Japanese Pokémon Center Online website announced earlier this month that it was moving to a lottery system for upcoming card packs due to customer demand.