TOKYO (TR) – Earlier this year, a series of attacks that targeted large sums of cash being transported by money changers took place across the capital and in Hong Kong.
On Saturday, Tokyo Metropolitan Police arrested seven suspects, including members of criminal syndicates, over a heist in the Ueno area of Taito Ward that netted the perpetrators more than 400 million yen, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Mar. 14).
At around 9:30 p.m. on January 29, Asato Murata, 27, Yuto Ito, a 27-year-old member of the Sumiyoshi-kai, and Daiki Ikeda, 34, worked together to assault a man in his 40s with pepper spray on a street in Higashiueno, near JR Okachimachi Station.
The man was one of seven persons loading 423 million yen in cash intended for transport to Hong Kong into a car. The perpetrators, all of whom had their mouths covered, then fled the scene after stealing a suitcase containing the cash.
The ringleader of the operation was Jinryu Kano, a 21-year-old executive of the Yamaguchi-gumi criminal syndicate.
Meanwhile, Kenko Fukuhara is a senior member of a subsidiary organization of the Kyokuto-kai. He and Yusuke Ikeda, 33, are believed to have obtained the vehicle used to flee the scene.
The seventh suspect is 47-year-old Koji Koike. Police have not disclosed whether the seven suspects have admitted or denied the charges.
Police believe that the perpetrators traveled by train to Tokiwadai Station on the Tobu Tojo Line in Itabashi Ward. After meeting up with Kano and others at a nearby park at around 8:00 p.m., they then drove to Ueno.
During the investigation, police seized ski masks and other items that are believed to have been used in the crime.
Haneda Airport
Two and a half hours after the incident in Ueno, perpetrators attempted to rob a money changer and others in a parking lot near Haneda Airport Terminal 3 in Ota Ward. The perpetrators, who also used pepper spray, fled without taking any of the approximately 190 million yen in cash being handled.
The perpetrators fled in a white Prius with forged license plates. They are believed to have switched to another car in Kanagawa Prefecture. They remain at large.
Like the Ueno case, the cash was destined for Hong Kong. However, some of the victims in this incident were later robbed of over 50 million yen upon arrival in Hong Kong.
When the suspects fled from the Ueno crime scene, they used a car drove that drove the wrong way down a one-way street not far from the robbery scene, causing a hit-and-run involving a pedestrian.
Later, a car with Nagano Prefecture license plates was found abandoned about 500 meters away. The perpetrators are believed to have switched to a white Alphard nearby and fled again.
Traveled to three prefectures
Using security camera footage, police tracked the Alphard, reports TV Asahi (Mar. 15).
After leaving Ueno, it headed towards Nagareyama City, Chiba Prefecture, passed through Ibaraki and Tochigi prefectures and entered Saitama Prefecture. It arrived in Kawaguchi City at around 3:00 a.m. on January 30, approximately 6 hours after the crime.
The Alphard is registered in the name of Kano’s father and belongs to a yakuza group. The car has still not been found.
During the investigation, police seized 27.5 million yen in cash and 21 items, including a smartphone. However, the stolen suitcase has not been found.
The whereabouts of the remaining cash is still under investigation.
With the cash in both cases destined for Hong Kong, police plan to proceed under the idea that the seven suspects in the Ueno case were also involved in the Haneda Airport incident.
