SHIZUOKA (TR) – Shizuoka Prefectural Police have arrested three men accused of ambushing a teenage drug dealer with tear gas and a crowbar during a violent late-night robbery, reports TV Asahi (Aug. 26).
The incident occurred at around 2:00 a.m. when the teenage boy arrived at a local parking lot. There, he was confronted by three men who forced him to roll down his car window before blasting him in the face with tear gas.
The assailants then used a crowbar-like tool to smash the window, dragged the teen out of the vehicle, and subjected him to a flurry of punches and kicks.
However, investigators revealed a twist to the brutal assault: the teenage victim was actually an illegal drug dealer who had been intentionally lured to the location by his attackers.
“It happened near the far end of the parking lot,” a witness told reporters. “I heard a man’s voice and the loud sound of metal bashing against a car. I called the police immediately.”
Police arrested 22-year-old Takato Nakagawa and two accomplices on suspicion of robbery resulting in injury.
Authorities suspect the trio is connected to a hangure (quasi-yakuza) street gang. Investigators are now probing a string of similar violent car ambushes across Shizuoka Prefecture believed to be the work of the same criminal group.
