Overview
- A street robbery in Ikebukuro on Wednesday evening left a Chinese woman in her 60s with a light head injury after two men sprayed her and struck her head, then fled with a shoulder bag containing about ¥8 million, police said.
- Ikebukuro police are treating the incident as a robbery causing injury and are actively pursuing the two unidentified suspects who ran from the scene near JR Ikebukuro Station.
- Tokyo Metropolitan Police Investigation Division 1 re‑arrested two 23‑year‑olds on Thursday on suspicion of involvement in earlier robberies, including an April 28 Katsushika case in which about 2 kg of gold (roughly ¥53 million) was taken after a spray attack.
- Authorities say the re‑arrested men joined an anonymous, fluid criminal group known as 'トクリュウ' through social media and acquaintances, and detectives are examining whether members of that network carried out multiple recent thefts.
- Investigators' focus on an SNS‑recruited, mobile network follows several high‑value attacks that often use spray to disorient victims, a pattern that raises public concern and could prompt increased police patrols and warnings to people carrying large sums.