Men arrested for burglary; 20 "cases" on smartphone, "Mr. Kaneko" in safe

On the 7th, the Metropolitan Police Department announced the arrest of three people, including Takumi Kurokawa (30), an unemployed man from Sapporo, on suspicion of breaking into a building and stealing precious metals from a company's office in Shinjuku, Tokyo. It has not been made clear whether he approves or disapproves.

Among ``anonymous and fluid criminal groups'' (anonymous criminal groups), ``cases'' containing information such as the addresses and assets of ``target'' victims are exchanged using highly confidential communication apps, and incidents such as burglaries and robberies are occurring one after another in various places.

The Metropolitan Police Department believes that Kurokawa was a ``dealer'' who conveyed information to the perpetrators, such as the address of the ``target,'' the route of intrusion, and where the money and goods were stored. Approximately 20 pieces of information that appear to be related to ``cases'' within and outside of Tokyo were reportedly found on Kurokawa's smartphone, and the Metropolitan Police Department is currently investigating the situation.

According to the 3rd Investigation Division, the other suspects arrested were Yusei Kubotani (32) and Hitoshi Watanabe (27), both of whom have no fixed residence and are unemployed. The three are suspected of breaking into the office of a precious metals purchasing company in Shinjuku Ward between 2:10 and 2:20 a.m. on May 25th and stealing two safes containing approximately 120,000 yen in cash and approximately 2 kg of precious metals such as gold and platinum (total market value of approximately 25 million yen).

The office was on the second floor of a five-story building. It is believed that Watanabe acted as the driver, while Kubotani and another perpetrator used a stepladder to break into the building through a window on the second floor and steal the safe containing precious metals. The Metropolitan Police Department is also investigating the remaining perpetrator.

Do you know where the safe is stored?

According to those involved in the investigation, it appears that multiple instructors were involved in the incident, and there was evidence that information about the case was conveyed from Kurokawa to the executor through the instructors.

Case information was exchanged using highly confidential communication apps, and was shared using slang terms such as ``Kaneko-san,'' which means safe.