By TOSHIYA OBU/ Correspondent
January 27, 2023 at 18:30 JST
Investigators gather at a home in Komae, western Tokyo, where a 90-year-old woman was brutally murdered on Jan. 19. (Minami Endo)
BANGKOK--“Luffy,” the suspected mastermind behind a string of robberies in Japan, including Tokyo, has been detained at an Immigration Bureau facility in Manila, authorities in the Philippines said Jan. 27.
The suspect’s real name was not released.
The authorities said procedures are being taken to deport the man to Japan. He is currently prohibited from using communication devices in the detention facility.
Another Japanese national believed to be part of the burglary ring has also been detained in the Philippines, they said.
After police in Japan analyzed records of phones seized from suspects arrested in connection to violent robberies, they found that a person using the name Luffy provided instructions from the Philippines.
The country code for the Philippines was found in the phone number used by Luffy.
Police: Robbery suspects lured by wealth, trapped through threats
January 27, 2023
Police: Burglars in Japan guided by ‘Luffy’ from the Philippines
January 26, 2023
2 more arrested in home robbery, assault in Tokyo’s Nakano
January 24, 2023
Sources: Group of burglars likely behind west Japan violence
January 23, 2023
Text address of murder victim on phone connected to another attack
January 22, 2023
Job site link to Komae murder, string of crimes in Kanto region
January 21, 2023
Woman, 90, killed in home robbery in western Tokyo
January 20, 2023
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
A peek through the music industry’s curtain at the producers who harnessed social media to help their idols go global.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
