A young London card game champion has been left devastated after a suitcase containing his incredibly rare and valuable collection, estimated to be worth at least £20,000, disappeared during a European bus journey.
The Disappearance on a FlixBus
Anes Bouzouin, 22, from Camden, was returning from the Bandai Card Games Fest in Dusseldorf, Germany. He was travelling on a FlixBus to Eindhoven in the Netherlands to catch a flight home when the incident occurred. Inside his bag were around 300 One Piece trading cards, a collection built from his success as the self-proclaimed number one-ranked One Piece card player in the UK.
Anes told the Daily Mail he believes the theft happened while the bus was stopped near the Dutch town of Roermond. He had previously got out to check his bag was still in the luggage compartment and found it secure. However, after a subsequent brief stop just outside Roermond, he grew uneasy, especially after seeing the driver hop out and run to the back of the coach.
"I just had that really eerie sensation," Anes said. "So, as soon as we got off the bus at the next stop, we ran to the back to check on our bags, but my suitcase wasn't there." He is unsure if the bag was stolen or if it fell out of an improperly secured hold, potentially "lying in the middle of the highway."
A Crippling Financial and Personal Blow
The loss is far more than sentimental. The One Piece card game has exploded in popularity recently, with Anes stating some card values have shot up by 300 per cent in mere weeks. Among the missing items was a sealed Monkey D. Luffy card valued at an astonishing £15,000 alone. He also lost other high-value cards, including a pre-errata Luffy Leader (£2,000) and several exclusive tournament prizes.
This financial catastrophe has upended Anes's life. He is currently a carer for his mother, who has cancer, and the lost cards represented his capital to start a new chapter. He had planned to open a shop in Camden, running youth entrepreneurship workshops, and was in talks with the local council. "But now the plan is 'dead in the water'," he lamented, after investing a "stupid amount of money" in stock that is now gone.
Compounding the distress, many of the lost cards belonged to friends he was trading for at the convention. "I have a real life reputation in this scene... people know me as an honest person, and it's not something I want to ruin," he explained, prioritising repaying others over his own losses.
Frustrating Lack of Resolution
Anes immediately reported the theft to both FlixBus and the Netherlands Police, but found little assistance. He claims the police closed his case in just three days, citing insufficient leads. A spokesperson for the Netherlands Police confirmed the case was closed, stating: "The initial investigation yielded no concrete evidence of a criminal offence. It's unclear whether the suitcase was lost or stolen, nor where it might have happened."
In a desperate attempt to make amends to those who entrusted him with cards, Anes has set up a GoFundMe with a target of £15,000, though it has so far raised just under £2,000. He has vowed that if the suitcase is miraculously found, he will raffle the valuable cards to donors as a thank you. For now, the UK's top One Piece player is unable to afford to travel to European tournaments and must seek new employment to support his family.
