By SHOKO MIFUNE/ Staff Writer
February 17, 2024 at 12:00 JST
The Metropolitan Police Department headquarters in Tokyo (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Tokyo police arrested five Japanese and Chinese nationals on suspicion of operating unlicensed taxis by catering to foreign tourists needing rides from their hotels to Haneda Airport.
Two of the five suspects used a well-known accommodation reservation website to pick up fares, while the others preyed on travelers who booked primarily through a Chinese car-hailing app.
Multiple brokers are apparently involved in the business, investigative sources said Feb. 15 in announcing the arrests.
The five suspects, both men and women, stand accused of violating the Road Transportation Law for operating an unlicensed taxi business.
The Metropolitan Police Department said one of the suspects, an unemployed man aged 45, is from Hachioji in western Tokyo.
With tourism recovering to pre-pandemic levels, police have been stepping up their monitoring of unlicensed taxi services, citing an increase in the number of consultations regarding such services.
The MPD said it received 20 complaints about unlicensed taxi services in 2023 compared with four the previous year.
Police said the suspects targeted Taiwanese, Chinese and other visitors needing rides from hotels in Tokyo and neighboring Chiba Prefecture to Haneda Airport in the capital’s Ota Ward between Dec. 13 and Jan. 25.
Police said the fares ranged from 4,000 yen ($27) to 10,000 yen each time.
Cabs operating without government permission are called shirotaku (white taxi) because they are fitted with license plates on a white background, while normal cabs use green license plates.
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