Investigative sources say four suspects arrested in possible connection with robbery of a luxury watch shop in Tokyo's Ginza shopping district have told police they do not know each other. Police suspect they were recruited online.
On Monday, several masked assailants broke into the luxury watch shop. They threatened the sales clerks with a knife and escaped with the stolen goods in a van.
The suspects aged between 16 and 19 were arrested on suspicion of trespassing a condominium close to where police found the abandoned vehicle.
Sources say it has been confirmed more than 70 wristwatches were stolen in the robbery that took about two minutes.
Police have so far found a bag containing about 30 watches near the condominium and another bag with 40 other watches in the van. They say most of the stolen goods have been recovered.
Sources say the four suspects live in the city of Yokohama, outside Tokyo, but told police they do not know each other.
They say the suspects have nothing in common in terms of jobs or schools. They include a high school student and those with a part-time job or without a job.
Police are looking not only into their possible involvement in the robbery, but also whether they applied for work on an online site recruiting robbery perpetrators by analyzing their smartphone data.