A Vietnamese national named Nguyen Xuan Thu, 31, was arrested for stealing 3,200 pears just before they were ready to be harvested in Ibaraki prefecture. The incident occurred between the morning of the 1st and the morning of the 2nd of September.
According to the farmer, Nguyen allegedly sneaked under a net to steal the pears. The pears were scheduled for shipment three days later.
A few days after the theft, the missing pears were found in an unexpected location. On the 6th, Ibaraki Prefectural Police and others raided an abandoned hotel as part of a crackdown on illegal residents, where they discovered Nguyen and the pears.
A total of 1,818 pears were recovered, meaning about 1,400 had disappeared within just 4-5 days.
Nguyen Xuan Thu confessed, saying, “I recruited people from the Vietnamese community on social media to resell the fruit.”
Police are continuing their investigation, suspecting that others may have been involved.
