On the crowded Saikyo Line late at night… Foreign “hackers” “repeatedly steal in crowded trains?

The JR Saikyo Line is crowded with passengers before the last train. The man reached into the pouch of a man absorbed in operating his smartphone and pulled out a wallet containing a large amount of cash.

On February 10, the Metropolitan Police Department’s Investigation Division 3 announced the arrest of Tran Kim Nhat Minh, 30, a Vietnamese national of unknown occupation living in Asaka City, Saitama Prefecture, on suspicion of theft.

The alleged incident occurred at around 11:30 a.m. on February 8. The suspect, Minh, was behind a man in his 30s who was operating a smartphone in a crowded car from JR Ikebukuro Station to Itabashi Station. He allegedly stole a wallet containing a total of 14 items, including about 250,000 yen in cash and a driver’s license, from the man’s pouch. The train was so crowded that he was unable to move.

There had been a series of similar thefts on the Saikyo Line, including a late-night pickpocketing incident in January this year. Investigators on alert identified the suspect, Min, who put his hand on a man’s pouch. They got off at Itabashi Station and caught the suspect, Min, red-handed, with the man’s wallet in his hand. Upon investigation by the police, Min stated, ‘I don’t want to talk about anything,'” said a reporter from the society section of a national newspaper.

At the February 10 arrest, Minh, who is believed to be a “pimp” who repeatedly pickpockets on trains, gave a puzzled look to the assembled press.

A young Vietnamese woman is made to sit next to a male customer. ……

In recent years, there has been a string of incidents involving Vietnamese nationals.’ Since 2005, the country has overtaken China as the leader in arrests for foreign crimes by nationality. They account for 30% to 40% of the total. The main troubles are as follows.

In October 2008, 13 men and women in their 30s, including Vietnamese nationals, were arrested in Gunma Prefecture. They were said to have been roaming around the northern Kanto region late at night, stealing livestock and vegetables. The group was divided into three roles: livestock thieves, guards, and drivers. It is believed that they were carrying cattle knives and model guns, and were prepared to fight back if they were discovered.

In November ’24, a Vietnamese woman in her 20s who ran a restaurant in an entertainment district in Tokyo was arrested. It is alleged that she had been illegally employing young Vietnamese women who were unable to work in adult entertainment establishments by forcing them to sit next to male customers and serve them instead of over the counter. The sales of the store exceeded 400 million yen in the five years leading up to her arrest.

Taihei Ogawa, a former Kanagawa Prefectural Police detective and crime journalist, explains the background to the rapid increase in crimes committed by Vietnamese.

The number of Vietnamese who come to Japan to receive technical internship training is increasing, but the number of those who leave the workforce is also very high. Most Vietnamese work diligently and study hard to acquire skills. Unfortunately, however, there are a certain number of people who leave the workforce because they do not fit in with the Japanese work style and culture and find it difficult to make a living.

On the other hand, there are also people who come to Japan for criminal purposes while obtaining a technical intern visa. In some cases, they form criminal groups through Vietnamese brokers. They repeatedly commit theft and shoplifting, and entrust stolen goods to people called ‘couriers’ to send them back to their home countries.

In the case mentioned at the beginning of this article, the police are investigating Minh as having additional crimes.