Suspects flee with suitcases containing $3.4m in cash after robbing victims in downtown Tokyo
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Investigators working in the area of a suspected robbery in Tokyo's Taito ward in the early hours of Jan 30.
PHOTO: KYODO NEWS
TOKYO – A group of three suspects robbed five people on a street in central Tokyo on the night of Jan 29, fleeing with suitcases that the victims said contained around 420 million yen (S$3.4 million) in cash, according to police.
A few hours later, a man with luggage containing 190 million yen in cash was attacked early on Jan 30 with pepper spray in a carpark at the capital’s Haneda airport, but nothing was stolen from him, the police said.
Investigators are looking into a possible link between the incidents.
The victims in central Tokyo, three Japanese and two Chinese nationals ranging in age from their 20s to 40s, were robbed at about 9.30pm in Taito ward near JR Okachimachi station as they were loading three suitcases containing the money into a passenger car.
One of the Chinese victims in his 40s was allegedly attacked with pepper spray by the group before they fled with the suitcases, the police said.
A pedestrian in his 50s was struck by a vehicle in the area around the same time that the suspects left the scene.
A small blue passenger car was later found abandoned in the area. The pedestrian sustained minor injuries, the police said.
“The area around Okachimachi is lined with jewellery shops and has seen robberies before,” said a woman in her 50s who lives in the neighbourhood, adding that the incident on Jan 29 scared her. KYODO NEWS
