Tokyo police have newly arrested three men ¡ª believed to have close ties with major crime syndicates ¡ª for suspected involvement in a case in which a group of men carrying suitcases full of cash was robbed on a street in the capital in January.
Keiichi Yamaguchi, of the city of Mobara, Chiba Prefecture, has been arrested along with Makoto Kitahara, of Tokyo¡¯s Toshima Ward, and Yuichiro Miyakawa, of Tokyo¡¯s Arakawa Ward.
Yamaguchi, 29, is an executive of a gang connected to the Sumiyoshi-kai, a designated organized crime group.
Kitahara, 42, is believed to have ties with the Yamaguchi-gumi while Miyakawa, 52, is allegedly linked to the Kyokuto-kai. Both the Yamaguchi-gumi and the Kyokuto-kai are also designated organized crime groups.
The three men allegedly conspired to rob a 38-year-old man and others of three suitcases containing a total of ?423 million ($2.6 million) on a street in Tokyo¡¯s Ueno district on Jan. 29 at around 9:30 p.m.
The group of people who were carrying the suitcases told investigators that they were in the money exchange business and their job was to deliver the money to Hong Kong via Tokyo¡¯s Haneda Airport and exchange it for Hong Kong dollars.
Yamaguchi is suspected of giving instructions to those he had recruited to commit the crime.
Seven people had already been arrested in connection with the case.
The Metropolitan Police Department said it has seized cash totaling roughly ?35 million,?believed to be proceeds of the robbery, from the homes of the suspects.
About three hours after the robbery in Ueno, another group carrying ?190 million was attacked at a parking lot in Haneda Airport, though their attackers left empty-handed. The police have yet to determine whether the two cases are connected.
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