JavaScript is off. Please enable to view full site.

4 Vietnamese indicted for repeated shoplifting in Japan

4 Vietnamese indicted for repeated shoplifting in Japan

Monday, March 11, 2024, 11:12 GMT+7
4 Vietnamese indicted for repeated shoplifting in Japan
Stolen Uniqlo clothing confiscated by police in a shoplifting case involving four Vietnamese individuals in Japan. Photo: Fukuoka prefectural police

Four Vietnamese men and women have been indicted on charges of theft after allegedly repeatedly shoplifting at casual clothing giant Uniqlo and other clothing shops in Japan, The Yomiuri Shimbun reported on Saturday.

On February 7, Kyodo News reported that the four people, in their 30s and 40s, were arrested on suspicion of involvement in 67 incidents across Tokyo and seven prefectures, including Osaka and Fukuoka.

They are believed to have stolen 5,237 items during multiple visits to Japan between December 2018 and October 2023, causing losses estimated at around 20 million yen (US$135,000).

According to police, the four claimed to have come to Japan to resolve difficult living conditions in their hometown due to debt and illness.

The group said they were solicited by a ringleader who offered them large remuneration, telling them “Japan is an easy place to shoplift.”

They were taught stealing techniques in Vietnam by the ringleader, who made the arrangements for them to travel as a group to Japan.

“My husband is ill and unable to work, so my parents and child all depend on my income,” The Yomiuri Shimbun quoted one of the four members as saying at their first hearing at the Fukuoka District Court on February 26. 

“I also needed money to pay for an operation for myself.”

She added that while she earned 50,000 yen ($340) a month as a fruit vendor in Vietnam, her child quit high school because she could not pay the tuition.

The Fukuoka prefectural police, who apprehended the four individuals, have also obtained an arrest warrant for a woman in her 40s who lives in Vietnam, suspecting that she was giving instructions to the four, Kyodo News reported.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

Tuoi Tre News

More

Read more

;

VIDEOS

‘Taste of Australia’ gala dinner held in Ho Chi Minh City after 2-year hiatus

Taste of Australia Gala Reception has returned to the Park Hyatt Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City's District 1 after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Vietnamese woman gives unconditional love to hundreds of adopted children

Despite her own immense hardship, she has taken in and cared for hundreds of orphans over the past three decades.

Latest news

NASA delays crewed lunar landing to 2027

The United States is pushing back its planned return to the moon from 2026 to 'mid-2027' as it deals with heat shield issues and other troubles plaguing its Orion crew capsule, NASA officials said Thursday