Overview
- A group carrying three suitcases with ¥423 million was robbed on a street in Ueno on Jan. 29, and the cash carriers told police they were transporting the money to Hong Kong for currency exchange.
- Tokyo police arrested three additional suspects — Keiichi Yamaguchi, Makoto Kitahara and Yuichiro Miyakawa — in early June on suspicion of conspiracy in the Ueno theft.
- Investigators report ties between the newly arrested suspects and major crime syndicates, with links to the Sumiyoshi-kai, Yamaguchi-gumi and Kyokuto-kai described in police statements.
- Officers have seized roughly ¥35–35.7 million during searches but say almost ¥400 million remains missing and they are seeking a suspected informant who may have leaked the victims’ route.
- Police stress the case fits a wider pattern of yakuza involvement in cash-handling and fraud, and a special task force has been formed after recent arrests in large telephone-fraud schemes targeting the elderly.