Brazilian pair suspected in theft of 60 luxury vehicles

GUNMA (TR) – Law enforcement has arrested two Brazilian nationals who are suspected in the theft of dozens of luxury vehicles in the Kanto region dating back to last year, reports the Sankei Shimbun (May 14).
At around midnight on June 24 last year, Mitsuharu Marcelo Tamura, 52, and Vinicius Himuro, 29, are suspected of working together to steal a Toyota Land Cruiser worth about 5 million yen from a parking lot in Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture.
Both suspects live in Gunma. Upon his arrest on suspicion of theft on Wednesday, Tamura declined to comment. However, Himuro admitted to the charges. 'Tamura took the stolen car,' he said. Mitsuharu Marcelo Tamura (X) 'Used some kind of machine'
Tokyo Metropolitan Police and Gunma Prefectural Police are conducting a joint investigation. According to police, Tamura was the main perpetrator. Meanwhile, Himuro drove to the crime scene and kept watch.
The involvement of the two men emerged after an examination of security camera footage and other sources.
Himuro stated that he 'used some kind of machine' to carry out the crime. Police suspect it was a so-called 'CAN Invader' (Controller Area Network). The palm-size device allows thieves to bypass the latest anti-theft technology.
Police believe Tamura is the leader of a crime ring that was behind the theft of approximately 60 luxury vehicles in Tokyo and seven prefectures, mainly in Kanto, since April last year. The value of the stolen vehicles totals around 210 million yen, police said.
The arrest of Himuro is his first. However, Tamura has been accused in at least two other cases, including the theft of a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado worth approximately 4 million yen from a parking lot in Tochigi City, Tochigi Prefecture on January 7 of this year.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Japan Today

4 days ago

• Japan Today

Man arrested for trespassing in female colleague's apartment with duplicate key, stealing her clothes

Police in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, have arrested a 27-year-old man on suspicion of trespassing and theft after he entered a female colleague's apartment with an unauthorized duplicate key and stole some of her clothes and other items. According to police, Yuki Murai, an office worker, was quoted as saying, "I had feelings for her. I wanted to make her feel bad because she ignored my Line messages,' Sankei Shimbun reported. Police said Murai is accused of breaking into the woman's apartment in Ota Ward at around midnight on March 30. He allegedly stole six items, including underwear, lip balm and a miniature security camera. Police said Murai saw the manufacturer and number of the key in the woman's bag at their workplace and then had a duplicate key made. He is believed to have gone into the woman's apartment more than 20 times since last August. More than 300 photos of the interior of the woman's apartment were found on Murai's smartphone. The woman, who is in her 20s, became suspicious when she noticed her underwear missing and the security camera was stolen. © Japan Today

Tokyo Reported

6 days ago

• Tokyo Reported

Russian nabbed for attempted pickpocketing on Yamanote TokyoReporter

TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a male Russian national for allegedly attempting to pickpocket a commuter on the Yamanote Line last week, reports Fuji News Network (June 16). On the evening of June 13, Shemshukevich Vitaly, 46, allegedly reached inside the bag of a man inside a crowded carriage near Shinjuku Station during rush-hour. Two railway police officers then grabbed him from behind. Upon his arrest on suspicion of attempted theft, Vitaly denied the charges. 'I haven't done anything wrong. The zipper on my bag is closed, so there's no way it could have been opened,' he told the Shinjuku Police Station. Before the incident, Vitaly stood in front of the male commuter carrying the bag. He draped his clothes over his arm so his hands weren't visible. He then put his other hand in the pocket of the commuter's bag. Shemshukevich Vitaly (X) Pickpocketing pro Police have been wary of Vitaly for some time. He has entered and left the country about 20 times in the past two years. According to police, pickpocketing has been a regular practice for him during those times. Fourteen cases have been reported. One of them took place on June 6, when Vitaly committed the crime right in front of Tokyo Metropolitan Police officers on alert. Police said that there had been 127 cases of pickpocketing this year as of the end of May. This is already 1.6 times the number over the same period in 2024.

Tokyo Reported

15-06-2025

• Tokyo Reported

Osaka scouting group illegally referred women to soaplands

OSAKA (TR) – Law enforcement in Aichi and Kagawa prefectures have rearrested four men from Osaka City-based commercial sex scouting group Seed Advertising for illegally referring women to soapland bathhouses, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Apr. 16). Takeru Fukuyama, 27, is senior member of Seed Advertising. Police rearrested Fukuyama and three associates for introducing women to a soapland in Takamatsu City, Kagawa. Three other associates were arrested in this case for the first time. Police accused the seven suspects of violating the Employment Security Act regarding introductions for harmful business purposes. Seed Advertising formed in January 2022. From that time until this past March, the group made a total of at least 1.3 billion yen in profits from women's introduction fees and other sources, according to Aichi Prefectural Police. The group, which has up to 10 members, has conducted transactions with approximately 400 adult entertainment establishments in 46 prefectures and administrative districts. It is suspected that freelance scouts arranged for women they recruited on social-networking sites to be placed in adult entertainment establishments and received 15 percent of the women's sales as 'scout kickbacks.' The rearrest charges for Fukuyama and his associates allege that they introduced a woman in her early 20s to a soapland in Takamatsu City around June 11 last year. Fukuyama and his associates had been arrested twice before on suspicion of introducing other women in their 20s to soapland businesses in Kaga and Kofu cities, Ishikawa Prefecture.