R42 million cash stolen in rare and daring Tokyo street heist
420 million yen, packed in suitcases, was stolen during a rare street robbery at night in central Tokyo. File picture.
Image: Pema G Lama via Unslpash
A team of three robbers stole suitcases holding 420 million yen (R42 million) in cash on a busy street in central Tokyo, police and media said on Friday, a rare crime in the Japanese metropolis that prides itself on safety.
The heist saw the thieves deploy pepper spray to grab luggage containing the money at around 9:30pm local time on Thursday near Ueno station, an area popular with tourists, a spokeswoman at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police told AFP on condition of anonymity.
She declined to give further details of the case, but local media said the victims were a group of five Chinese and Japanese nationals who were trying to place suitcases containing some 420 million yen in a vehicle.
It was not immediately clear why the group was carrying the money.
Fuji Television said the victims told investigators that the cash was being delivered to currency exchange stations.
Separately, a man with 190 million yen in cash was also attacked with pepper spray by a group of three men in the early hours of Friday morning at a parking garage at Tokyo's Haneda airport, local media said.
Police were investigating the link between the two attacks, broadcaster TBS said.
AFP