Shoplifters usually steal non-expensive merchandise, but on 11 April, one thief took home a valuable item from the Japanese department store chain Takashimaya.

Over 1,000 pieces of shining teaware, tableware, and artifacts were on display at the store’s Tokyo outlet when a 32-year-old man put one of the teacups inside his bag and fled, based on the security camera that recorded the shoplifting.

The stolen 24-carat gold teacup was reportedly worth over 10 million yen ($65,000). Police used the footage from the security camera to track down the thief.

Two days later, the suspect was arrested, and the golden teacup was recovered from a secondhand shop, NTV reports.

The thief had sold the cup to a secondhand shop for only 1.8 million yen. The shop then sold it to another secondhand store, where police found it.

In New Zealand, two shoplifters stole only one kind of item from different stores in Auckland.

Police said the couple’s modus operandi was to turn on the fire alarm to create a distraction and then steal when store staff turned their attention to the alarm. When police raided their home in the city, the couple had shoplifted up to NZ$20,000 worth of the popular toy.

Some of the stolen Lego block sets were found in the home of the 45-year-old woman and her 34-year-old partner in crime.

The two have been charged with 30 counts of shoplifting and violation of the Fire and Emergency New Zealand Act for misusing fire alarms.

WJG WITH AFP @tribunephl_wjg