KANAGAWA (TR) – Kanagawa Prefectural Police have arrested a 49-year-old Vietnamese woman for her alleged role in a massive shoplifting syndicate that systematically stripped drugstores of pharmaceuticals across the Kanto region, reports Fuji News Network (July 23).
Tran Thi Sun is accused of conspiring with accomplices to steal approximately 80,000 yen worth of medicine and other goods from a drugstore in Kawasaki City in August 2025.
The arrest follows a relentless string of shoplifting incidents targeting drugstores in the prefecture that began in June 2025. Authorities suspected the thefts were orchestrated by a Vietnamese crime group, leading to the prior arrests of six individuals who allegedly carried out the physical thefts.
However, investigators believe Tran played a higher-level role. Police suspect she acted as the syndicate’s “collector,” tasked with gathering the stolen merchandise at a stash house in neighboring Chiba Prefecture.
The scale of the group’s operation is massive. Authorities have linked the syndicate to the theft of roughly 4,700 items across Tokyo and six surrounding prefectures, with total damages estimated at a staggering 16.7 million yen.
Police are now investigating the likelihood that Tran and her associates were routinely shipping the stolen Japanese pharmaceuticals back to Vietnam.
