The Metropolitan Police Department has arrested three Brazilian nationals in a luxury Toyota car theft case, sources said Thursday.
The three are suspected of stealing a Land Cruiser 300 SUV, valued at some ?8.5 million ($55,000), from the parking lot of a man in his 40s in the city of Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, around 3 a.m. on Dec. 5 last year. The victim reported the theft to police, and the vehicle was found in the parking lot of a business hotel in the city of Shimotsuma, Ibaraki Prefecture.
The suspects, whose occupations are unknown, have denied the allegations, according to police sources. Their names released by the MPD are Perdomo Emerson Luiz, Oliveira Murakawa Dheivid and Makio Dias Wellington.
Authorities believe the trio has stolen a total of about 50 vehicles in Tokyo and seven other prefectures, targeting high-end vehicles, including Toyota¡¯s Lexus and Land Cruiser models, and causing total damage of about ?450 million.
Investigators searched the suspects¡¯ residence and related vehicles, seizing a ¡°CAN Invader¡± device, which can illegally start an automobile engine.
Toyota had equipped its latest models with strengthened measures to prevent theft using the device, but the suspects apparently broke through the measures.
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