A rise in in-flight thefts in Japan has prompted police to warn international travelers to be careful with their personal belongings.
Japan Airlines and travel industry experts have warned travelers to be careful with their valuables. This warning has been issued following the increase in in-flight theft cases, which, according to these sources, are probably carried out by organized crime groups.
Victims of these thefts have reported items missing from their bags in overhead compartments while sleeping on incoming or outgoing flights at Narita Airport.
In many cases, thieves have removed the cash from the bags and replaced it with lower-value notes from other countries. This made the victims not notice the theft for a long time.
“Mainichi” newspaper has reported that this style of robbery strengthens the possibility of organized crime groups being involved in these robberies.
According to reports, the average theft from these people was about 2,600 US dollars (410,000 yen), however, one passenger said that about 2 million yen (12,700 dollars) disappeared from his belongings.
Chiba Prefectural Police, which is in charge of Narita Airport in eastern Tokyo, said about 60 percent of the victims were Japanese men who put yen, dollars or credit cards in their bags in overhead compartments.
It seems that these thefts mainly occurred when the cabin lights were turned off for the passengers to rest.
According to the report, 19 cases of theft were reported in the first 10 months of 2024, which is a significant increase compared to seven cases of theft in the same period last year.
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