KANAGAWA (TR) – Kanagawa Prefectural Police have arrested three men for operating an unlicensed taxi service in Yamato City that is believed to accrued nearly 100 million yen sales over the past 18 months.
The three men arrested on October 30 on suspicion of violating the Road Transport Act are 52-year-old Takahiro Yoshikai, a restaurant manager living in central Yamato City, and two unemployed men, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Oct. 30).
According to police, Yoshikai and his associates are suspected of using their private cars to transport a total of five customers who had visited restaurants in Yamato City on four occasions in December last year and March this year without obtaining permission.
Yoshikai is believed to be the ringleader of the unlicensed taxi group, employing around 40 drivers, and is thought to have provided around 51,000 rides between January last year and June this year, earning around 96 million yen in revenue.
Police have not disclosed whether the three have admitted to the charges, citing the possibility of impeding their ongoing investigation.
Arrests are rare
A newspaper reporter tells Nikkan Gendai that the group attracted riders by picking them up at half the usual fare.
“[The suspect] operated unlicensed taxi services mainly for restaurant employees and customers after business hours,” the reporter tells the evening tabloid.
The arrests of Yoshikai and his associates were initiated by a tip provided to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the source also says.
An active unlicensed taxi driver in Ginza, Tokyo tells Gendai without such a tip-off it is unlikely that such a case will surface.
“There are several unlicensed taxi groups in Ginza like the one arrested this time,” the driver says, “but the leaders of the larger groups are often people who have been in the area for many years. These ‘bosses’ receive orders from clubs and other establishments and dispatch the vehicles. In addition, most of the customers are introduced by familiar people in the establishments, and they rarely give first-time customers a ride.”
Several of these groups have regular customers, and if there are not enough cars, they sometimes share the vehicles.
“As long as you are giving regular customers a ride, the risk [of arrest] is low,” the driver continues. “In recent years, most arrests have been made for [drivers] calling out to people on the street or for [doing other things] to tip off [the police]. Even if you have a passenger in the back seat and the police are suspicious and stop you, you can get away with it by saying, “It’s a friend.” That is, as long as you are not seen in the act of the handover of the money.”
Japan’s foreign tourism boom is also a factor. “Many people become unlicensed taxi drivers as a side job,” the driver says.
