Suspected masterminds in robberies in Tokyo area arrested

It is the first time that masterminds have been arrested in connection with the robbery cases in which over 50 perpetrators have been arrested.

The four men are Hiroto Fukuchi, 26, Takuya Saito, 26, Karura Murakami, 27, and Shota Watanabe, 26.

Police believe that the suspects formed a 'tokuryu' anonymous and transient criminal group, which was involved in the cases.

The four were arrested on suspicion of beating and kicking a 51-year-old woman and leaving her with serious injuries that took two months to heal at her home in the Chiba city of Ichikawa in the small hours of October 17, 2024, and robbing her of 15 items, including cash and a car.

The woman was bound with adhesive tape and held in a hotel in Saitama Prefecture near the capital for about 14 hours.

In this case, three men in their 20s who carried out the crime have already been indicted for robbery resulting in injury, and three people in their 20s to 30s have been indicted for transporting stolen goods. Some of them have been sentenced to prison.

The four masterminds recruited perpetrators for "dark" part-time jobs on social media, according to people familiar with the investigation.

They used the highly secure communication app Signal to provide instructions, including the address of the woman's house and the method of attack, using nine different account names, such as 'Patrick,' 'Falcon' and 'PTA.'

Stolen items, including cash, ended up in the hands of them.

Some of the four are believed to be connected to gangs.

They appear to have become closer because they are in the same generation.

Since the end of August last year, there have been nearly 30 cases of robberies and break-ins committed by people recruited as perpetrators in the Tokyo area, including a case in which Hiroharu Goto, a 75-year-old victim, died in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, in October 2024.

So far, 51 people have been arrested.