Japanese police have arrested five people as part of a crackdown on scams targeting foreign tourists at restaurants and bars in Tokyo’s Kabukicho nightlife district.
Among those detained are two restaurant managers: Ekwelundu Ambrose Osita, a 62-year-old Nigerian national, and Arata Kashiwabara, a 35-year-old resident of Yokohama, Japan Times reported.
The two were arrested on suspicion of operating an unlicensed business offering entertainment services to male customers while the others were investigated for obstructing a police inspection by locking the entrance of an establishment.
According to investigators, the establishments managed by Ekwelundu and Arata allegedly overcharged about 3.4 million yen (US$21,200), Japan’s Nippon reported.
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Nightlife district of Kabukicho, Tokyo, Japan. Photo by Reuters |
The Wednesday crackdown deployed around 160 officers, including riot police, amid a rise in reports of foreign visitors being overcharged at Kabukicho restaurants and bars.
The Shinjuku Police Station received 340 complaints of overcharging by the end of October, about 200 more than a year earlier, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.
Foreign nationals accounted for around 70% of the victims.
Kabukicho is one of Japan’s largest entertainment and nightlife districts and a popular destination for international tourists.