Three French boys have been arrested on suspicion of stealing video game consoles and software from venders and exchanging them for cash at used game shops in Tokyo's Akihabara district, police said.
The boys, all French nationals attending an international high school in Tokyo, were taken into custody earlier this week. They allegedly made ¥490,000 by selling seven game consoles and 92 games.
The three, whose names are being withheld because they are minors, brought the stolen items to secondhand game shops on 18 occasions since November, the police alleged.
The boys have owned up to the thefts, the police said, quoting one of the three, a 16-year-old, as saying: "All my classmates are rich. So I thought I got to get some money to burn, even if I have to get my hands on dirty stuff."