More Arrests Made Over Robberies in Tokyo Metropolitan Area; Police Investigate Possible Links to ‘Dark Part-Time Jobs’

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:56 JST, November 4, 2024

A number of arrests were made over the weekend with suspected connections to “dark part-time jobs” in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Since August, there have been 23 such robberies mainly in Tokyo and five surrounding prefectures.

Early Sunday morning, a man broke into a one-story house in Yotsukaido, Chiba Prefecture, assaulting a 57-year-old male resident. The robber stole cash and fled.

Later the same day, the Chiba prefectural police arrested Yuta Kaneko, 28, of Shiki, Saitama Prefecture, on suspicion of home invasion and robbery resulting in bodily harm. Kaneko claimed to be a company employee.

Police said they will investigate whether the case is one of the recent robberies perpetrated by dark part-time workers in the Tokyo metropolitan area and elsewhere.

According to the police, Kaneko broke into the house between 4:20 a.m. and 4:45 a.m. by breaking a bedroom window. He got on top of the male resident and beat him on the face multiple times before taking about ¥13,000 from a wallet in the adjacent room.

Kaneko admitted the charges after being arrested, and reportedly told the police that he had trouble making a living because his debts had increased.

He committed the crime for money, Kaneko reportedly said, and searched for lucrative part-time jobs on X (formerly Twitter). He received instructions on committing the crime through Signal, a messenger application with a high level of privacy.

Other arrests made

The MPD arrested a 28-year-old unemployed man from Fujimi, Saitama Prefecture, on Saturday on suspicion of aiding and abetting a home invasion and robbery resulting in injury on Sept. 28. He allegedly purchased a crowbar and a hammer at a home improvement store in Kamagaya, Chiba Prefecture, at around 6 p.m. on Sept. 27, the police said.

The man told the police that he applied for a “highly paid baggage-carrying job” advertised on X, and was told what to do through the Signal messaging app.

“I thought it was a dark part-time job but I couldn’t quit because I was threatened by the person giving the orders,” he was quoted as saying.

In Kanagawa Prefecture, a 30-year-old woman became the second person to be arrested by the Kanagawa prefectural police for her suspected involvement in a robbery-murder case in Yokohama in October, the police said Sunday.

The arrested, Miho Kimoto of Adachi Ward, Tokyo, is suspected of acting as a mule in the case.

According to a police announcement, Kimoto is suspected of conspiring with Mazuki Takarada, 22, from Inzai, Chiba Prefecture, and others in the assault and the murder of Hiroharu Goto, 75, at his home around Oct. 15. The group is suspected of taking about ¥200,000 in cash from the residence.

Kimoto was arrested on Saturday. She reportedly denied part of the charges, saying she collected money gained through crime but did not commit the robbery with Takarada.

According to sources close to the investigators, Takarada put the cash he took from the victim inside a toilet in a park in Tokyo, and Kimoto collected the money after she received an order through a highly confidential texting app.

Meanwhile, a man suspected of recruiting perpetrators in a case involving robbery and injury in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, in October, told police that he applied for the job through X, just like the perpetrators.

According to sources close to the investigators, the suspect, Yuya Nagura, 31, told police that a higher-up in the robbery group who gave him orders had Nagura’s address, real name and other personal information. Nagura was arrested on suspicion of robbery resulting in injury and other charges.