3 Brazilians Arrested in Toyota Luxury Car Theft Case

Tokyo, Feb. 19 (Jiji Press)--Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department has arrested three Brazilians in a Toyota Motor Corp. luxury car theft case, it was learned Thursday.

The three are suspected of stealing a Land Cruiser 300 SUV, valued at some 8.5 million yen, from the parking lot of a man in his 40s in the city of Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, around 3 a.m. on Dec. 5 last year. The victim reported the theft to police, and the vehicle was found in the parking lot of a business hotel in the city of Shimotsuma, Ibaraki Prefecture.

The suspects, whose occupations are unknown, have denied the allegations, according to police sources. Their names released by the MPD are Perdomo Emerson Luiz, Oliveira Murakawa Dheivid and Makio Dias Wellington.

Authorities believe the trio has stolen a total of about 50 vehicles in Tokyo and seven other prefectures, targeting high-end vehicles, including Toyota’s Lexus and Land Cruiser models, and causing total damage of about 450 million yen.

Investigators searched the suspects’ residence and related vehicles, seizing a “CAN Invader” device, which can illegally start an automobile engine.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]