Cash in Japan, Hong Kong Robberies Could Have Been Proceeds from Gold Sales

By Ryohei Goto and Nobuha Endo / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers

12:37 JST, February 15, 2026

Hundreds of millions of Japanese yen in cash was stolen in a series of robberies spanning Tokyo’s Ueno district, Haneda Airport and Hong Kong in January.

Authorities believe that information about the transport of cash was leaked to an organized crime group, which then targeted the shipments. The Metropolitan Police Department is investigating the cross-border robberies, and suspects the cash was the proceeds of gold sales, whose price had recently surged.

On the night of Jan. 29, a Japanese man was robbed of about ¥423 million while transporting the cash on a street in Tokyo’s Ueno district.

He explained to the MPD that he regularly transported Japanese yen entrusted to him by jewelry shops to Hong Kong to exchange for Hong Kong dollars. The man and others were attacked by a group while transporting suitcases containing cash from an office nearby and loading them into a car parked on the street.

Early hours of the following day, four people transporting about ¥190 million by car were attacked by four people at a parking area at Haneda Airport. Of the four victims, two managed to fly to Hong Kong with the cash but were later attacked again and robbed of about ¥51 million on a street there.

Hong Kong police swiftly identified vehicles used by the attackers and their accomplices through security camera footage and arrested six suspects later that day. Those arrested included one of those attacked at Haneda Airport who is believed to have been an inside accomplice who tipped off the robbers about the transportation route.

One of the victims at Haneda Airport was also acting as a money exchanger. The victim told the MPD, “I had transported the proceeds of gold sales to Hong Kong almost daily to exchange them for Hong Kong dollars.”

Based on the similarities in the modus operandi and the shared pattern of targeting cash bound for exchange in Hong Kong, the MPD believes that the same mastermind was behind the robberies.

Favorable exchange rates

At Sheung Wan on Hong Kong Island, the scene of the third robbery, more than 25 currency exchange shops are packed into just a 100-meter stretch along the main avenue. The area’s proximity to Central — one of the world’s leading financial hubs — has fueled the development of money exchange businesses there.

A male employee at a currency exchange shop said, “Fierce competition has led to favorable exchange rates.”

According to the Hong Kong Economic Journal, cost pressures at some currency exchange shops force them to rely on employees to transport cash rather than hiring a security company. In some cases, Japanese yen are delivered from Japan in this manner.

Is it lawful to transport hundreds of million yen by plane? Under Japanese law, anyone transporting more than ¥1 million in cash into or out of the country must declare it to customs, according to the Finance Ministry.

There are businesses that transport a large amounts of cash almost daily. According to an investigative source, the about ¥190 million targeted at a parking area at Haneda Airport had been declared to customs.

Suspicions of money laundering

In answering why highly credible Japan’s banknotes would be converted into Hong Kong dollars, which are said to be more susceptible to counterfeiting, the representative director of Japan Exchangers Safety Council said, “Hong Kong dollars may be used to purchase gold or crypto assets.”

At a press conference on Jan. 31, a Hong Kong police official said that the two attacked in Sheung Wan could have purchased specific products after they exchanged the cash in Hong Kong, indicating that the police would investigate the background of the cases and the possibility of money laundering.

Meanwhile, the MPD is rushing to identify the perpetrators and those who ordered the robberies. Through security camera footage, the police found a car registered under the name of an organized crime group member had traveled to Saitama from Tokyo’s Ueno district via Chiba, Ibaraki and Tochigi prefectures.

Another car that is believed to have been used to flee from Haneda Airport was found in Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture.

The MPD is coordinating with Hong Kong authorities through the National Police Agency to uncover the full details of the incidents.