Tokyo and Hong Kong have experienced a series of massive cash heists, with 2 employees of a cryptocurrency exchange store arrested

From January 29 to 30, within less than 24 hours, the usually safe cities of Tokyo, Japan, and Hong Kong, China, experienced consecutive robberies targeting large amounts of cash in Japanese yen, with the amounts involved reaching 420 million yen (approximately 19 million RMB) and 51 million yen (approximately 2.29 million RMB) respectively. About 6 hours after the incidents, the police arrested 3 suspects at Hong Kong International Airport on charges of "robbery" as they were about to leave the country. Additionally, 2 staff members at a virtual currency exchange store in Tsim Sha Tsui were arrested, including a 28-year-old local man and a 29-year-old man from mainland China, who are suspected of assisting the robbers in handling part of the stolen money.

Preliminary intelligence analysis indicates that the relevant Japanese companies may have been converting cash in yen to Hong Kong dollars by carrying it to Hong Kong, in order to purchase duty-free goods in Hong Kong and profit from the tax price difference between the two regions.