Crime & Courts

7 Men Arrested Over Robbery of ¥423 Mil. on Tokyo Street; Members of Gang Groups Among Those Arrested

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
Investigators examine the scene of a robbery in Tokyo’s Ueno district on Jan. 30.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

18:10 JST, March 14, 2026

Seven men were arrested on Saturday on suspicion of robbing a Chinese man and six others of about ¥423 million in cash on a street in Tokyo in January, according to police.

The Metropolitan Police Department believes that the seven, at least three of whom are senior gang members, had received a tip that the 43-year-old Chinese individual and the six others would be transporting the cash to Hong Kong from the Ueno district on Jan. 29.

The suspects allegedly plotted the robbery with another unknown person.

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The robbery took place at about 9:30 p.m., when the victims were loading three suitcases that contained the cash into a car. The money would have been used to buy gold in Hong Kong, according to the MPD.

The attack was carried out by three of the seven arrested individuals, according to the MPD. Following the attack, they fled via a mini vehicle driven by one of their four accomplices. The vehicle is believed to have been involved in a hit-and-run involving a man in his 50s who was walking near the scene of the robbery.

The four eventually exited the car and got into a van driven by another accomplice. They then headed to Chiba Prefecture, the MPD said.

About 2½ hours after the Ueno attack, four other men transporting a suitcase containing about ¥190 million in cash were attacked by four people in a parking lot at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport.

Two of the victims managed to fly to Hong Kong with the cash. However, they were later attacked again and robbed of about ¥51 million on a street there.

On Jan. 30, Hong Kong police arrested six individuals on suspicion of robbing the pair in Hong Kong. One of the arrested individuals was a victim in the attack at Haneda Airport. He is believed to have been an inside accomplice who tipped off the robbers about the transportation route.

The MPD is investigating possible connections between the three attacks with the help of Hong Kong authorities via the International Criminal Police Organization.