A team of three robbers used pepper spray to steal suitcases containing $2.7 million on a busy Tokyo street, with a second similar attack reported hours later.
TOKYO: A team of three robbers stole suitcases holding $2.7 million in cash on a busy street in central Tokyo, police and media said.
The thieves used pepper spray to grab luggage containing the money near Ueno station, a popular tourist area, a police spokeswoman told AFP.
Local media reported the victims were a group of five Chinese and Japanese nationals trying to load the suitcases into a vehicle.
It was not immediately clear why the group was carrying the money.
Fuji Television said the victims told investigators the cash was being delivered to currency exchange stations.
In a separate incident, a man with 190 million yen in cash was attacked with pepper spray by three men at Tokyo’s Haneda airport.
The attack occurred in a parking garage in the early hours of Friday morning.
Police were investigating the potential link between the two attacks, broadcaster TBS said.
The street heist is a rare crime in the Japanese metropolis, which prides itself on safety.
