Scoop: The Ginza Rolex Robbery The group of juvenile delinquents was not a “black market” gang!
Masked youths broke into the store, took a luxury wristwatch, and fled. 19-year-old main suspect was a well-known bad guy in his hometown, Yokohama.
The arrested 19-year-old A is a well-known delinquent in his hometown of Yokohama. He was known as a former leader of a motorcycle gang and often took junior members of the gang as his henchmen.
The robbery that shook the world by attacking a high-end watch store in Ginza, Tokyo, was apparently not the “black market job” that was widely reported on TV and other media. On May 8, the day of the incident, four juveniles, 19-year-old A and B, 18-year-old C, and 16-year-old D, all residents of Yokohama, were arrested, and it is highly possible that they knew each other.
An acquaintance of the suspects mentioned above continued.
“Even before the incident, there were rumors that A was using junior students to commit crimes. They called him ‘S’ in a cloaked language, probably referring to a special scam. I think he was also an Oreore scam operator…There were juniors who didn’t want to help A and talked about their problems with those around them, but they couldn’t refuse him because he threatened to kill their families and girlfriends if they ran away. So among my local friends, it’s said that A had the members he gathered do the robbery in this case, too.”
What is interesting is who is behind the boys.
The mastermind is said to be a criminal group made up of members of a semi-governmental organization and several gangsters. The characteristic of this group is that they search for the perpetrators not through social networking services but through geographical connections. There are recruiters and directing officers who gather the executioners under the top management, and the boys are considered to be about the fourth tier of subcontractors. Depending on the future investigation, there is a possibility that arrests will be made in a “potato-spinning” fashion,” said a Metropolitan Police Department investigator.
The boys were arrested on suspicion of breaking into a building in Minato Ward, and are expected to be re-arrested on burglary charges. Lawyer Shu Dohi, an expert on criminal cases, said, “The 16-year-old boys are under probation.
The 16-year-old is likely to be placed on probation or sent to a juvenile reformatory.” Under the 22-year revision of the Juvenile Law, 18- and 19-year-olds are considered ‘specified juveniles’ and are subject to the same criminal procedures as adults in serious cases such as robbery. The penalty for robbery is imprisonment for five years or more. For robbery, the penalty is life imprisonment or six years or more.
The price for the crime they committed is high.
From the June 2, 2023 issue of FRIDAY
PHOTO： Jiji Press / Courtesy of witness (1st photo) Courtesy of photographer (2nd photo)
