Five Arrested in Alleged Dark Part-Time Robbery Preparation Case

“Bang!”

Around 9 a.m. on April 15, Yamaguchi Yū (20), who was being transported from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s Wangan Police Station to the prosecutors’ office, appeared unusually excited inside the vehicle. He formed finger hearts, puckered his lips as if to kiss, winked one eye, and even made pistol shapes with both hands, repeatedly performing “bang” gestures in front of the press cameras.

Influencer Takizawa Gare-so posted about the scene on X, writing: “Bad news: these dark part-time job guys seem incredibly stupid.” As of the 21st, the post had received 20.82 million impressions. Writer and YouTuber Junshi Urita also bluntly criticized them on X, saying: “The intelligence of young people involved in dark part-time jobs is low.” The incident ended up adding to their nationwide humiliation. Why was he arrested?

“On the morning of the 13th, around 9:30 a.m., five young men were loitering in a corner of Ueno (Taito Ward, Tokyo), near a parking lot surrounded by multi-tenant buildings. A suspicious police officer asked them, ‘What are you doing?’ and the men tried to flee by getting into a car, prompting the officer to stop them. A search revealed items including crowbars, fruit knives, pepper spray, ski masks, and masks inside the vehicle.

Those arrested on suspicion of attempted robbery were Yamaguchi, whose address and occupation are unknown, Keisuke Sanada (46), and three minors. Some of the suspects reportedly admitted, ‘We gathered to commit a robbery’ and ‘We were supposed to receive payment.’ Based on smartphone communications and other evidence, investigators believe they were planning to target a rental office in a nearby building.”

At 7:30 a.m. on the 15th, Sanada was also sent to prosecutors from the airport police station. The five are believed to have gradually joined a car departing from Osaka on the 13th along the way, and they reportedly used the highly secure messaging app Signal. Police are investigating the possibility that they are part of an anonymous, fluid criminal group (Tokuryū) operating under instructions from higher-ups.

It is possible that they are waiting to see how things develop

In 2025, the number of suspects arrested in tokuryū cases reached 12,178, a 20% increase from the previous year. Young people under 30 accounted for 60% of this total. Among them, 304 people were arrested in connection with robbery cases, a decrease of 44. Even impressionistically, there has been a sense that so-called dark part-time job robberies have somewhat subsided since the arrest of the perpetrators involved in the series of metropolitan-area robberies that occurred in 2024. However, according to investigative journalist Yukio Ishihara, this does not mean the phenomenon has been eradicated.

“When I meet people from the underworld during reporting these days, what I am asked with high frequency is, ‘Will the remaining three people in the ‘Rufi’ case receive the death penalty?’ In February, one of the alleged ringleaders, Fujita, received a first-instance sentence of life imprisonment, and there is strong interest in how the remaining three will be treated.

Because of this, the recent decline in robbery cases linked to so-called dark part-time jobs—which used to occur several times a week—may simply reflect a situation where the people at the top of the network are in a wait-and-see phase, watching what happens when people are caught.

Over the past three years, investigative methods have also evolved rapidly. Whereas in the past, only the lower-level participants were caught and treated as disposable, like cutting off a lizard’s tail, now recruiters and organizers are also being arrested. As a result, those who orchestrate crimes can no longer operate without factoring in the risk of arrest. I believe that the sentencing of the remaining three in the ‘Rufi’ case will be a turning point in determining whether these dark part-time job robberies will continue to decline in the future.”

Will crimes become increasingly violent and brutal in the future?!

Regarding the incompetence of the ‘dark part-time job’ participants who were arrested before they could carry out the crime this time, it is said that this is due to a general decline in the “quality” of people being recruited into such schemes.

“Those recruited for dark part-time jobs are essentially disposable pawns, so the more foolish they are, the easier they are to use. The entire scheme is designed by higher-ups, so it is more convenient to have people who do exactly as they are told without acting on their own judgment. Foolish individuals will readily beat up an elderly person if instructed to do so. If they start thinking for themselves, they won’t be able to carry it out. On the other hand, if they are too foolish, they also become problematic because they may simply not show up at the scene, saying things like ‘I won at pachinko,’ for example.

In the past, recruiters were able to properly assess this balance, but around 2024, as the number of special fraud cases increased, the recruitment of manpower became more aggressive. Whereas previously people who had proven themselves in lower-level roles would become recruiters, there are now cases where individuals are hired directly as recruiters from the start. The overall level of recruiters has dropped significantly. As a result, they may now be hiring people who would previously have been excluded.”

While it can be said that crimes were prevented this time precisely because the actual perpetrators were not particularly competent, there are also disturbing implications.

“When the leader of ‘Tsubasa no To’ and two others were arrested in May two years ago, they smiled and made double peace signs, and since then similar cases have increased. In November last year, members of Natural were also seen raising both middle fingers during transport. There may be something about being publicly displayed at arrest or indictment that resonates with certain individuals.

However, what is truly concerning is that, as seen in cases such as the robberies in Komae City and Aoba Ward in Yokohama—where victims were killed—these foolish perpetrators will not hesitate to carry out extreme violence if instructed. They do not think about things like needing to keep the victim alive to obtain PIN codes. If such extremely reckless individuals continue to increase at the operational level, there is a real danger that the brutality and lethality of these crimes will accelerate further. Had the suspects arrested this time actually carried out the robbery, it is entirely possible that victims could have been killed even if the goal was only money or valuables.”

Crimes linked to dark part-time jobs are becoming increasingly violent and brutal.

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