Japan arrests 7 Vietnamese students who specialize in stealing cosmetics and smuggling them back to their home country

Osaka Prefecture Police, Japan, have just arrested a group of 7 Vietnamese international students on charges of stealing a large quantity of goods and shipping them back to their home country for consumption.

A cosmetics store on sale in Tokyo, Japan. Photo: The Star

Mainichi today quoted investigators as saying that nThe group of suspects arrested were all in their 20s, led by a 23-year-old male student. The remaining 6 were divided into two groups, operating in Tokyo and Osaka.

This group was directed by a woman in Vietnam tosteal cosmetics such as skin cream, sunscreen...a big Japanese brandfrom local stores.

The leader then receives the goods and pays the members. The suspect then hires overseas students to carry the stolen goods back to Vietnam and pays them with plane tickets.

Police are investigating the possibility that this was an organized crime group that actively recruited international students with limited financial resources. The arrested suspects all admitted to their actions and said they wanted to "earn money to pay for tuition and living expenses".

Japanese cosmetics are increasingly popular due to their good quality despite their high prices. The cosmetics manufacturer said that most of the stolen products are not widely sold in the Vietnamese market.

According to VNE