ドラッグストア万引まんびき ベトナムから窃盗せっとう指示しじか 容疑ようぎ者しゃら逮捕たいほ状じょう

A group of Vietnamese thieves had been sending large quantities of shoplifted goods from drugstores back to their home country, and the joint investigation team of the Metropolitan Police Department and others has identified two suspects who are believed to have been giving instructions remotely from Vietnam and obtained arrest warrants for them.

We are working to uncover the reality of organized crime that crosses national borders.

The Metropolitan Police Department and others investigated a group of Vietnamese people repeatedly shoplifting from drugstores, and discovered that after gathering the stolen goods at several locations, the group was sending large amounts of them back to their home country.

In November last year, authorities simultaneously searched locations in the Kanto region and Osaka, and on the 19th, they newly raided a base in Matsudo City, Chiba Prefecture, arresting two suspects believed to have been involved in shipping stolen goods.

The number of group members who have been arrested so far has reached twelve.

Furthermore, based on statements from the perpetrators and analysis of seized smartphones, the joint investigation headquarters has identified and obtained arrest warrants for two suspects—a man and a woman—believed to have been giving instructions remotely from Vietnam, according to sources involved in the investigation.

Arrest warrants have been issued for Nguyen Ba Thanh 31 and Nguyen Thu Phuong 29, who are suspected of instructing the perpetrators in a shoplifting incident involving cosmetics and other items from a drugstore in Nagano Prefecture last September.

It has been discovered in the investigation so far that the stolen goods shipped from the base in Japan have been delivered to associates of two masterminds in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. The joint investigation headquarters plans to issue an international warrant through ICPO International Criminal Police Organization in the future.

The joint investigation headquarters believes that the two ringleaders recruited perpetrators via social media and other means, and instructed them on what items to steal and where to send them using messaging apps. They are working to uncover the actual situation of this cross-border organized crime.