7 Arrested over 423-M.-Yen Robbery in Tokyo

Tokyo, March 14 (Jiji Press)–Japanese police arrested on Saturday seven individuals on suspicion of robbing a group of several people of three suitcases containing a total of 423 million yen in cash in Tokyo in late January. Among the seven are Jinryu Kano, 21, a senior member of a group affiliated with the Yamaguchi-gumi major organized crime syndicate, Yuto Ito, a 27-year-old key member of a group related to the Sumiyoshi-kai syndicate, Takemitsu Fukuhara, 48, a high-ranking member of a group associated with Kyokuto-kai, also a major crime syndicate, and Koji Koike, 47. Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department’s organized crime control division searched more than 10 locations, such as a Tokyo office of the group to which Kano belongs, the same day, seizing about 20 items, including about 27.5 million yen in cash and smartphones. About three hours after the robbery incident, a group carrying cash worth about 190 million yen was attacked at a parking lot at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. The MPD division is investigating the possible connection between the two cases. The seven arrestees allegedly conspired to steal the suitcases on a street in the Japanese capital’s Taito Ward around 9:30 p.m. Jan. 29. A 43-year-old man was assaulted when the suspects fled the scene with the suitcases. According to sources including the MPD division, the seven suspects gathered at a park in Tokyo’s Itabashi Ward around 8 p.m. that day and then moved to Taito Ward to commit the robbery. Koike and Kano, who drove the getaway vehicle and the vehicle the suspects switched to, respectively, are believed to have directed the crime, while Ito and two others committed the robbery. The remaining two, including Fukuhara, are suspected to have procured the vehicles. The Haneda incident occurred in the small hours on Jan. 30. A group of four in a car approached a man and three others carrying cash, and assaulted them, such as by using spray. The group fled without stealing anything. Two of the four victims were later robbed of about 51 million yen in Hong Kong. One of them was arrested by Hong Kong police along with other individuals and later indicted. The victims of the Taito Ward and Haneda cases told police that they were transporting cash obtained partly through gold trade to Hong Kong to exchange the money, according to investigative sources. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]