TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a former sumo wrestler who is suspected of masterminding a criminal syndicate that recruited pawns on social media to execute a massive shoplifting spree at drugstores across Japan, reports the Asahi Shimbun (Sep. 30).
Tomoya Taguchi, a 34-year-old resident of Yokohama City’s Sakae Ward, was arrested on suspicion of theft, police announced on Wednesday.
Upon his arrest, Taguchi reserved his right to remain silent, telling investigators, “I will speak after consulting with a lawyer.”
Tokuryu
According to Tokyo police, Taguchi is accused of conspiring with an accomplice to steal nine packages of intestinal medicine, valued at approximately 48,800 yen, from a drugstore in Itabashi Ward at around 4:15 p.m. on November 27, 2025.
While Taguchi typically acted as the ringleader of a tokuryu syndicate, whose members communicate anonymously via smartphone apps, police believe he personally executed the Itabashi heist.
Investigators allege Taguchi stuffed the medicines into a tote bag, casually walked out of the store, and fled in a getaway vehicle waiting near the entrance. He is believed to have subsequently fenced the stolen goods to an unknown buyer.
Chiba heist
Taguchi’s name surfaced during the interrogation of two other men — a suspected thief and a getaway driver — who were previously arrested for a separate drugstore heist in Chiba Prefecture.
Police revealed that Taguchi used social media to build his network of thieves. Young people searching for terms like “high hourly wage” found his posts and applied for the illicit jobs.
Once recruited, Taguchi allegedly fed them detailed instructions on which stores to target, the exact dates and times to strike, and the specific merchandise to steal. He then paid his foot soldiers a cut based on the retail value of the fenced goods.
Investigators are now working to unravel the full scale of the syndicate’s operations. Tokyo police suspect Taguchi’s group has been active since June of last year, stealing an estimated 4,000 items— primarily cosmetics and pharmaceuticals — worth approximately 14 million yen from drugstores across 10 prefectures, including Osaka and Aichi.
