Photo/Illutration The X (formerly Twitter) account operated by Ren Konno (The Asahi Shimbun）

Two YouTubers who duped a man into buying illegal drugs and arranged for his apprehension by police were also arrested on suspicion of violating the Stimulants Control Law, Tokyo police said Nov. 20.

Ren Konno, 30, known as a “citizen’s arrest-type” YouTuber, and Michitake Okumura, 28, also a vlogger, are suspected of aiding and abetting possession of stimulant drugs.

The Metropolitan Police Department did not disclose if the two men, who both live in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward, have admitted to or denied the allegations.

According to police, the two suspects on Aug. 8 conspired with others to create a fictitious woman who posted a message on an internet bulletin board that said she wanted to use stimulant drugs together with someone.

A man responded to the message.

The suspects, still posing as the woman, exchanged messages on social networking sites with the man and seduced him into buying stimulant drugs in Yokohama on Aug. 15, police said.

The same day, he headed to Shinjuku Ward to meet the woman.

The two YouTubers called the 110 emergency number about the drug-carrying man, and police officers arrived at the meeting spot.

The man was caught red-handed with illegal drugs and was arrested on suspicion of violating the Stimulants Control Law.

The two suspects filmed the man being questioned by police and posted the footage on their YouTube channel called “Guts ch,” which has about 260,000 subscribers. The video was available for anyone to see for a certain period.

Konno appears in videos posted on the channel under the name “Ren Nakashima,” while Okumura calls himself “Micchi” and has mainly been in charge of filming.

Konno in September told The Asahi Shimbun that he began posting videos in February, and that he has uploaded more than 320 videos purporting to “arrest” or “subdue” people he believes were engaged in groping or molestation.

He said he posts such videos to “make them go viral” and to “gain views and generate income.”

Google, which operates YouTube, said on Nov. 20 that it has removed several videos and stopped advertising on Konno’s channel because it “contains harmful acts and untrustworthy content.”

“Citizen’s arrest-type” YouTubers target people they assume are involved in crimes. The “suspects” are often restrained and forced to either apologize in front of the cameras or be brought to a police box.

On Nov. 13, Kazuaki Sugita, 40, a citizen’s arrest-type YouTuber who goes by the name “Rengoku Coroaki,” was arrested on suspicion of defamation.

Tokyo police said he posted a video on YouTube of a woman, 18, whom he accused of being involved in illegal resales of tickets.

Her face was not mosaicked in the video, and police determined that she was not involved in any illegal activity.

According to sources, Sugita has told police that he “wanted to get advertising revenue and become famous.”

Both Konno and Sugita were acquainted with each other, according to sources, and Sugita was in the vicinity of the Shinjuku drug-bust video that led to Konno’s arrest.

(This article was written by Shoko Mifune and Tabito Fukutomi.)

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