Japanese police arrested seven individuals on Saturday on suspicion of stealing three suitcases containing a total of ¥423 million in cash from a group of people in Tokyo in January.
Senior members of groups linked to the Yamaguchi-gumi and Sumiyoshi-kai crime syndicates were among those arrested.
About three hours after that incident, another group was attacked at a parking lot at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. They were carrying about ¥190 million in cash.
The Metropolitan Police Department’s organized crime control division is investigating whether the two incidents are connected.
The seven arrested individuals allegedly conspired to steal the suitcases on a street in Tokyo’s Taito Ward at around 9:30 p.m. on Jan. 29. A 43-year-old man was assaulted when the suspects fled the scene.
According to sources including the MPD division, two of the seven suspects, who drove the getaway vehicle and the vehicle they switched to, are believed to be the masterminds, while three of the remaining five committed the robbery. The other two are suspected of procuring the vehicles.
The Haneda incident occurred at around 12:10 a.m. on Jan. 30. A group of four in a car approached a man and three others carrying cash, and struck the window of the man’s vehicle with a hammer. The group fled without stealing anything.
Two of the four victims were later robbed of about ¥51 million in Hong Kong. One of them was arrested by Hong Kong police, along with other individuals, and later indicted.
The victims of the Taito Ward and Haneda cases told police that they were transporting cash, obtained partly through the trade of gold, to Hong Kong to exchange the money, according to investigative sources.
AloJapan.com