<figure id="attachment_469914" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-469914" style="width: 875px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="b5879d36"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/06/e319b35a2376f1090a864188576de26b.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-469914" class="wp-caption-text">The suspect Tanaka stares at the camera as if he wants to say something. After this, he took the following action: &#8230;&#8230;</figcaption></figure>
<h3><span class="strongInContent"> I didn&#8217;t know he was going to commit a robbery.&#8221;</span></h3>
<p> On May 28, a suspect, Koki Tanaka, 20, of Chofu City, Tokyo, and a man, 19, of unknown occupation and address, were arrested on suspicion of preliminary robbery for gathering on a street in Edogawa Ward, Tokyo, with the intention of committing a robbery. On March 30, they were sent to the Koiwa Police Station.</p>
<p> On the 30th, Tanaka was sent to the Koiwa Police Station for prosecution, where he gave a sharp look to the press. He stared at the camera with an expression as if he wanted to say something, and tried to make some kind of appeal with his hands, but eventually he just got into his car.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> According to a neighbor, four or five men had gathered with what appeared to be a crowbar. A police officer who responded to a 110 call about a &#8216;suspicious vehicle parked in the area&#8217; asked him about his duties, and when the 19-year-old man admitted that he was there for the purpose of robbery, he was arrested.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> When questioned, the 19-year-old said, &#8220;I was told by a local senior that he wanted me to go steal gold bars. I came with a group of strangers in the car I was driving,&#8217; but Tanaka denied the charge, saying, &#8216;I didn&#8217;t know we were going to commit a robbery.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Security cameras near the scene also showed two other men fleeing on a motorcycle with Tanaka and the other suspects. According to the police, on the day of the robbery, a gold transporter near the scene was preparing to load gold bars into a car. The police are now pursuing the whereabouts of the two men who fled the scene, suspecting that they were after the gold bars.</span></p>
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<p> Last September, three employees of this company, a man and a woman, were attacked with tear gas in a similar incident.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> On September 24, &#8217;25, two masked men suddenly sprayed what looked like tear gas on the street in front of the company. Both victims, a female employee in her 30s and two male part-timers, were returning from a shopping trip and were resting in their car and on the street when they were attacked.</span><span class="strongInContent"> The two men were taken to the hospital complaining of eye pain, but their injuries were minor.</span></p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Could this be related to the preliminary robbery a week ago?"></div>
<h3><span class="strongInContent">The crime was planned &#8220;with information</span></h3>
<p> One week before this incident, on May 21, two men in their 20s carrying special batons and other weapons were arrested in Yotsuya (Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo) on preliminary robbery charges for attempting to rob a precious metals store buyer&#8217;s office of gold bullion.</p>
<p> There was another attempted robbery at this office in February, and it is believed that they may have been targeted because of their relationship with the Koiwa gold transporter targeted this time. Yukio Ishihara, a journalist familiar with the underworld, said.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> The scheme is to obtain information on the transportation plan and storage status of the money and goods, make a plan, and then form an execution team to run to the scene of the crime, which has become a popular technique in recent years. Although this case is still under investigation and we cannot say for sure, there are many cases in which the victims have informants or spies are sent to the victim&#8217;s side.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> In the case of the robbery of 420 million yen in cash in Okachimachi, Tokyo, in January, an informant on the victim&#8217;s side leaked information.</span><span class="strongInContent"> According to the victim&#8217;s explanation, the money targeted in this case was &#8220;the proceeds from the sale of gold to a Japanese trader,&#8221; and there is a high possibility that it was &#8220;undisclosed money&#8221; involved in the gold smuggling business. &#8220;Money involved in shady dealings is an easy target. They know that it is difficult for victims to go to the police because of the underworld&#8217;s smackdowns,&#8221; he says.</span></p>
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<p> In the past month, there have been a number of robberies and attempted robberies by underworld operators. In some cases, the victims were targeted multiple times. What is the reason for this string of robberies and attempted robberies?</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Are all the former criminals the same?"></div>
<h3><span class="strongInContent">Why are there so many &#8220;blackout incidents&#8221;?</span></h3>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Some people say that the same place is targeted multiple times because informants sell information to multiple groups. Informants know that there are yakuza who have their asses in the black market robbery. I think they know that if they do something like selling information to the yakuza in a two-timing manner, they will not get away with it.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> If the crime was committed by more than one group, there would be a chance for them to run into each other. Considering that the dates of the attacks (or attempted attacks) are spread out, it is more likely that the second and third groups are skipping the first group because they could not steal from the first group. The fact that they are so obsessed with the situation is probably due to the fact that the first information they received was highly accurate,&#8221; said Ishihara.</span></p>
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<p> What is different from the past is that not only those at the end of the line but also those above them are now being arrested. In the underworld, the mainstream perception is that <span class="strongInContent">&#8220;tataki is not worth it,&#8221;</span> he said. Nevertheless, Mr. Ishihara speculates as to the reason for the continuing spate of &#8220;black market&#8221; robberies.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I think there is even a possibility that all the incidents from Kamimikawa-cho, Tochigi, to here, are actually set up by the same group. I suspect that the number of attempts and arrests, including attempted ones, are increasing because the group, suddenly having to make a large sum of money, is doing it under such pressure that they don&#8217;t have time to plan elaborately in advance.&#8221;</span></p>
<p> The number of young people in their teens and twenties has increased. How far will the number of young people who throw themselves into evil deeds that have no future continue to increase?</p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" [Photo] The man who was staring at the camera took the following action: ......"></div>
<figure id="attachment_469915" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-469915" style="width: 674px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="b9b637e0"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/06/f70c9ec82cc9e7faec4638dc94fbba65.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-469915" class="wp-caption-text">On May 30, the suspect Tanaka was sent to the Koiwa Police Station for prosecution. From the moment he appeared, he was looking sharply into the camera.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_469916" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-469916" style="width: 735px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="2e96662f"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/06/d6769bbb96f1ddb4b31bafc0e098e5c5.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-469916" class="wp-caption-text"> He denies the charge, saying, &#8220;I didn&#8217;t know I was going to commit a robbery.&#8221;</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_469917" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-469917" style="width: 883px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="c39f15c6"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/06/64ab3f6360c6ca9bdf506a980c40da58.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-469917" class="wp-caption-text"> He stared at the camera and almost raised his middle finger in a pose, but &#8230;&#8230; never did.</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_469918" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-469918" style="width: 581px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="89e9d076"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/06/b720f1bdfbd64ed9b7bb9be98ada0306.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-469918" class="wp-caption-text"> The scene where Tanaka and the other suspects were arrested was a residential area in the Bunkyo district. A police car was still parked there.</figcaption></figure>


 Shinji Hasuo

 On May 28, two men, aged 20 and 19, were arrested for attempting to commit robbery by gathering on a street in Edogawa Ward, Tokyo. The "underworld robbery incidents" have continued since the robbery and murder in Tochigi. An underworld journalist explains why the incidents continue.

A local senior told me&#8221; and &#8220;I came here with a group of strangers&#8221;&#8230; Behind the scenes of a spate of &#8220;black job robberies&#8221;.

A local senior told me” and “I came here with a group of strangers”… Behind the scenes of a spate of “black job robberies”.

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