As the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area continues to see brazen break-ins at trading card game shops, two businesses in Ajax are the latest to suffer major losses and damage.The first known incident in Ajax happened at around 5:45 a.m. on June 14 at Mintink Trading Card Shop and Live Experience, which is located near the corner of Salem Road North and Taunton Road East. Manager Marc Belmonte told CityNews on Thursday that someone nearby heard the alarm and breaking glass, and then reported it to Durham Regional Police.Surveillance video shared on Instagram appeared to show four masked individuals breaking through multiple layers of security, including the bottom of the front door and then smashing their way through the front vestibule. During the forceful entry through the vestibule door, it appeared that one of the people involved was inadvertently struck by a miniature sledgehammer.“It seemed organized but also unorganized at the same time. The one lead person seemed to have a phone in his hand, almost as if he was maybe speaking to somebody else,” Belmonte said, adding that the individuals smashed multiple slab walls.“(They) proceeded to just take stuff off the (hobby wall) shelves (with more expensive merchandise), essentially with their hands grabbing stuff, throwing it in the bag, of course, to get a lot of stuff hitting the ground. They were a little haphazard in their attempts.”He said the business has been hit multiple times before. Belmonte said the losses are starting to affect insurance prices. “Theft is … just such a heinous act; it’s criminal, it’s stupid … I wish it would stop happening, but it’s not. We can’t stop the criminals from doing stupid things,” he said.Related:Recent GTA robberies, thefts of high-end trading cards spark renewed calls for increased safetyAround 15 minutes later, We Got Gamez owner Kamal Lalli said his business location on Kingston Road West near Church Street North was hit. He told CityNews a vehicle pulled up outside and all of the doors as well as the trunk opened up. Lalli said multiple individuals tried to force their way through a front door that had a display case blocking it, forcing them to force open a steel barrier behind an adjoining glass door.Video surveillance shared with CityNews by Lalli as well as images posted on his company’s Instagram account appeared to show the suspects grabbing various items from shelves. At one point, one of the alleged thieves could be heard pointing out Pokémon items. At another point, one of the individuals appeared to be talking with someone on a phone. “They were very brazen. They looked at the cameras, they knew where the cameras kind of were, and didn’t care,” he said, adding they all had hoodies, masks and gloves on and they were in the business for less than 10 minutes.“In the back of your mind, you feel violated — not by the community that supported us, but by a few thugs that came in here.”A few days before, Lalli said he drove to and from Sault Ste. Marie to buy an extensive collection of Pokémon items ahead of a major Canada Day sale he is planning to hold. He said many of those items, some of which were in a locked case, were taken. Lalli said while he was still nailing down an exact inventory of what was stolen, the losses could potentially be worth more than $100,000. He said given the nature of how quickly trading cards get sold and bought, it can be hard to have a fulsome list ready to go for an insurance claim.For Lalli, who grew his business specializing in video and trading card games into multiple locations from a single stall at the local flea market years ago, he said the major loss hit him hard.“I don’t look at it that they stole from me or robbed me … we’ve got four teenagers now, and they’re all at that age where school and university and post-secondary come into play,” he said, sharing a message directed at those responsible.Related:Toronto trading card shop owner estimates $36K worth of product stolen during daring break-in“You stole from my children, and it’s hurtful because behind my counter we don’t have rules and regulations. We’re a mom-and-pop store and there are pictures of my children and my family up there, and it’s very disheartening to see the kind of behaviour.”Lalli and Belmonte said they have been anxiously trying to get updates from the Durham Regional Police Service on their cases.CityNews contacted the service on Thursday to ask for an on-camera interview to talk about the reported break-ins. A spokesperson said in a brief statement that they weren’t able to disclose or comment on active investigations, and later clarified break-and-enter reports were received for both business locations.The police spokesperson said there have been 174 commercial business break-in reports across all of Durham region. It wasn’t clear how many of those reports were specifically for trading card game shops as the spokesperson said it would require further data and analysis to determine that information.The representative encouraged business owners and operators to consult the Durham Regional Police website for crime prevention tips.The incidents in Ajax could have been part of a larger round of break-and-enters. Lalli said he heard of incidents happening in Toronto, Guelph and Hamilton at around the same time in mid-June. As CityNews reported earlier this year, businesses and private sellers in North York, Brampton and Mississauga all saw notable losses of trading card games like Pokémon. A second-floor shop in Scarborough saw an estimated $36,000 worth of cards stolen from its premises.The problem isn’t isolated to GTHA. Other jurisdictions in Canada, such as the Montreal area, reported violent incidents targeting individuals selling items through online platforms.Ajax incidents come amid growing number of retail crime reportsRui Rodrigues, an advisor with the Retail Council of Canada, didn’t have information relating to these specific incidents or trading card game businesses generally. However, he said retail crime across the country has been a growing and serious problem.“The crimes being perpetrated against a retailer is beyond theft; it’s the violence against their employees,” he told CityNews. “The weapons that are being brought into retail on a regular basis, which years ago you rarely heard of that. It’s the ferocity of the theft of the items that are being perpetrated by organized groups that is then funding illicit marketplaces and the resale of stolen goods.”Rodrigues said a 2024 report found that based on responses received from various businesses, there were approximately $9.1 billion in retail losses. He said that’s up from 2017 and 2012 when the figures were closer to $5 billion and $4 billion, respectively.As for what’s behind the jump in reported losses, Rodrigues said repeat offenders — some out on bail — and weaker penalties are factors as is the increase in organized crime rings. Another factor, he said, has been the proliferation of online reselling platforms where well-meaning users are engaging with alleged criminals using fake profiles.“We also need to do a lot to educate the public when we’re purchasing online. Try to be careful who you’re mindful of [or] we’re just supporting this vicious circle of organized crime,” Rodrigues said.Related:Police in Laval warn of violent Pokemon crime wave targeting sellers on MarketplaceWhile he praised the federal government for recently passing bail reform and other crime legislation, he said there’s more work to do related to privacy restrictions that hinder the sharing of information. He encouraged governments and other stakeholders to increase their efforts to crack down on retail crime.“The key is to make sure we send a message at the earliest possible level, that there are consequences that are measured to the event, and those perpetrators understand that if we don’t check it at the entry level, people continue,” Rodrigues saidBack in Ajax, both affected business operators praised the broader trading card game community and their customers for their support. “Above all, obviously our safety is a concern for the employees, but also the safety of the customers … that’s why we have the safety precautions in place that we do,” Belmonte said.“We have gotten a lot, an overwhelming amount, of responses just saying we want these people off the streets,” Lalli added. “Life is tough, and you know we don’t want our clients to incur bigger costs and stuff like that. We want to stay positive because we’re re-signing our lease here, because we see a huge opportunity to serve the community and just change it up a bit, and it’s really, really difficult. I hope that feeling goes away.”