A total of 43 people including Japanese and Chinese nationals have been arrested on suspicion of being members of a theft ring responsible for stealing 580 million yen in cash and valuables over the past 2 1/2 years, police said Tuesday.
Lin Moukang, 35, already convicted of theft, is suspected of leading the gang, which is divided into four groups based in the Kanto area and Kyoto, Osaka and Hyogo prefectures, according to the police.
Police also arrested jewelry dealer Nobuo Anno, 50, on suspicion of fencing the stolen goods.
The ring may be responsible for more than 1,000 thefts, police said. Hunting for cash and jewelry, the thieves broke into houses and apartments by smashing windows or cracking locks, the police said.
Anno is suspected of buying about 60 stolen items, including rings, for about 600,000 yen from a 23-year-old Chinese suspect at a karaoke bar in Yokohama on Dec. 3, even though he knew the goods had been stolen from an office worker in Yokohama three days earlier.
Anno sold the valuables to a jewelry store in Taito Ward, Tokyo, the police said, without specifying how much he received.