TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a Vietnamese national suspected in a massive burglary ring spanning across the capital and 10 prefectures, reports TBS News (Oct. 2).
According to police, Tran Thanh Hai, a 31-year-old unemployed man of no fixed address, served as the designated driver for a criminal group that included at least three other Vietnamese men.
Tran was arrested on suspicion of trespassing and theft. Police allege that in October of last year, Tran broke into a residence in Sanjo City, Niigata Prefecture, and made off with approximately 100,000 yen in cash.
Upon his arrest, Tran admitted to the allegations.
“I was recruited at a pachinko parlor in Gunma Prefecture by someone who said they had ‘a job driving long distances,'” Tran told investigators. “I drove all over Japan. I received a reward of about 60,000 to 100,000 yen for each trip.”
According to police, Tran served as the designated driver for a criminal group that included at least three other Vietnamese men. Tran originally arrived in Japan in 2022 under the government’s technical intern training program but had been residing in the country illegally since overstaying his visa the following year.
Police believe that since early June of last year, Tran’s ring carried out a relentless crime spree targeting vacant homes. The group is suspected of executing more than 200 burglaries spanning Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba, Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Fukushima, Niigata, Nagano, Yamanashi, and Shizuoka prefectures, stealing cash and valuables worth an estimated 69 million yen.
Police are continuing to investigate the group’s additional crimes while actively tracking the whereabouts of Tran’s accomplices.
