Tokyo, Nov. 12 (Jiji Press)--Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department has arrested five people in a crackdown on rip-offs targeting foreign visitors at restaurants and bars in Tokyo's Kabukicho nightlife district.
The five include the managers of two restaurants, Ekwelundu Ambrose Osita, a 62-year-old Nigerian national, and Arata Kashiwabara, a 35-year-old resident of Yokohama, south of Tokyo.
The crackdown, which mobilized about 160 officers, including riot police personnel, came in response to a surge in cases of foreign visitors being overcharged at Kabukicho establishments. In many cases, African individuals introduce victims to these establishments.
According to the MPD, the Shinjuku Police Station, which covers the district, received about 340 complaints about such cases by the end of October, up by roughly 200 from a year earlier. About 70 pct of the victims were foreign citizens. In one case, 9.6 million yen was allegedly charged to a customer's credit card.
The establishments managed by Ekwelundu and Kashiwabara allegedly overcharged about 3.4 million yen.
Riot police officers from Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department enter a building in a crackdown on rip-offs in Tokyo's Kabukicho district on Wednesday.
Ekwelundu Ambrose Osita is arrested in Tokyo's Kabukicho district on Wednesday.[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]