Several masked intruders stormed into a luxury watch store in the Ginza shopping district of Tokyo. They threatened the sales staff with a machete before fleeing in a van with the stolen merchandise.
According to investigators, one of the suspects played a leadership role during the robbery, urging the others to continue robbing for at least 30 seconds longer.
Teens Detained After Rolex Store Robbery in Ginza, Tokyo
It is believed that they used crowbars to break the glass showcases and then crammed wristwatches into black sacks before fleeing. The police discovered the abandoned escape vehicle near Ginza. They then arrested four individuals between the ages of 16 and 19 for offenses including trespassing at a nearby condominium. The police believe that the teens participated in the robbery, as per NHK.
Three of the suspects have acknowledged trespassing, but one, a high school student, denies the charge. According to reports, the perpetrators have indicated they do not know each other.
According to investigative sources, the robbery of a luxury watch store in Tokyo's Ginza district was a carefully planned operation carried out by criminals who did not know each other beforehand.
The robbery at the store specializing in Rolex watches on May 8 lasted only two minutes, but in that time more than 100 watches were stolen, according to sources. According to Asahi, one of the three was reportedly overheard saying, "It's still fine. We have 30 remaining seconds."
According to the Metropolitan Police Department, these terms indicate that prior preparations, including a strict schedule, were made. The license plate of the van they used to flee was identical to that of a vehicle reported stolen in Kawaguchi, a city north of Tokyo, on May 7, according to sources.
The van was discovered abandoned in the Minato Ward of Tokyo, approximately three kilometers from the watch store. Police discovered 30 to 40 wristwatches in a bag inside the van and another 30 watches in a bag nearby.
The police are investigating how the suspects came together and whether or not they were receiving orders from the outside. Because the robbery occurred on a bustling thoroughfare frequented by tourists in one of the most affluent regions of Japan, it became widely known almost immediately. Several bystanders captured footage of the robbery and uploaded it to social media.
Local media reported that the hapless robbers, who were being pursued by at least four police vehicles, presumably drove past the imposing National Police Agency headquarters and the country's parliament.
Trapped in a dead-end alley less than two miles away, the suspects fled on foot while being recorded on the smartphones of numerous dumbfounded witnesses. One surrendered after literally being persuaded off a precipice.
Less than one hour after the incident began, all four suspects, including the escape driver, were apprehended. Per CBS News, the teenage robbers have told police that they met for the first time on the "task."
The entirely brazen and oddly amateurish heist bore all the hallmarks of yami-baito, or black-market part-time employment, an increasingly lucrative aspect for criminal organizations that allows them to delegate cons and thefts to the young, naive, and financially desperate. Through the use of yami-baito, such groups are able to commit crimes without serving time.
Tokyo Robberies
Since March, novices have committed five equally brazen robberies against precious metal merchants or jewelers in Tokyo. The theft from the watch store was the fifth such heist.
A dumbfounded investigator told the Tokyo Shimbun that "young people don't seem to comprehend that committing this offense will result in their detention."
Despite efforts to eradicate the ads, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police discovered nearly 3,500 yami-baito listings on Twitter last year, a year-on-year increase of more than 50 percent. On occasion, Yami-baito crime organizations have advertised on legitimate job-listing websites.
When reporters from the Mainichi newspaper applied for yami-baito employment, they were directed to communicate via the encrypted Telegram app and promised work as phone con artists earning more than $20,000 per month.
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