On August 28, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department announced the arrest of two Chinese Nationals, including Yi Xiaofeng, 37, a suspect with an unknown address and occupation, and another woman on suspicion of theft at the International Jewelry Exhibition held in January at Tokyo Big Sight.
The two are believed to be members of the international theft group Pink Panda.
The two are accused of stealing six pearl pendants (selling for a total of 1,865,000 yen) that were on display for sale by a jewelry wholesaler in Osaka at around 12:30 pm on January 17 at the exhibition.
According to the police, Pink Panda is a group of mainly people from Hunan Province, China, who are known to engage in theft outside the country and then return to China for a short period to evade detection. It was named by French police after another Western theft group, Pink Panthers.
The two suspects left Japan on January 18, the day after the incident, and re-entered the country on August 27. The police believe that they came to Japan for the Japan Jewelry Fair, which will be held at Tokyo Big Sight from August 28.
At the International Jewelry Exhibition in January, necklaces and rings were also stolen, with the total damage amounting to approximately 10 million yen. The police are investigating the involvement of the two women.
