AICHI (TR) — Police here have arrested a man from Nagasaki Prefecture on suspicion of kidnapping a heavily indebted man and attempting to traffic him to Cambodia to work in a telephone fraud syndicate, reports the Sankei Shimbun (May 20).
Kosuke Suzuki, a 34-year-old store clerk from Sasebo City, Nagasaki, was apprehended by a joint task force of six prefectural police departments.
Suzuki is accused of kidnapping for the purpose of overseas transfer. Police have not disclosed whether he admits to the allegations.
The incident unfolded on the night of February 25, 2025. Suzuki, allegedly acting with accomplices, forced the victim into a car on a street in Anjo City, Aichi. During the abduction, the suspects reportedly threatened the man, barking, “You think a guy who owes money can just run away?”
The following morning, the group transported the victim to Chubu Centrair International Airport to be flown out of the country.
Millions in debt
According to investigators, the victim was drowning in tens of millions of yen in debt. Upon learning through an acquaintance that the man was falling behind on his payments, Suzuki allegedly orchestrated the kidnapping.
The abductee was then forced to work in a Cambodian tokushu sagi (specialized fraud) ring in which members pose as police officers or other persons in authority on the telephone to swindle victims.
The arrest is part of a broader crackdown on Southeast Asian scam hubs that previously resulted in the arrest of 29 Japanese nationals operating out of Cambodia.
Suzuki had reportedly been laying low in Sasebo since February of this year, going into hiding after two other men were arrested in connection with the same abduction. Prosecutors ultimately dropped the charges against those two individuals.
