Trio of Thai Nationals Tied to 167 Vacant-House Burglaries Across 11 Prefectures, Damages Estimated at 24 Million Yen
This article organizes publicly available information into a single account. Where it describes an arrest or an ongoing investigation, that reflects only one stage of criminal procedure and does not mean guilt has been established (the presumption of innocence applies). We will update this article as new information becomes available, including the outcome of prosecution, non-prosecution, or trial. This article is not intended to unfairly disparage any individual, group, nationality, ethnicity, or belief, and aims to provide objective, fact-based information.
An investigation by the Ibaraki Prefectural Police and other agencies has confirmed that three Thai men committed 167 burglaries targeting vacant houses in 11 prefectures, including Ibaraki, from around October 2024 to around May 2025, stealing cash, jewelry, home appliances, and other items. The total damages are estimated at roughly 24 million yen.
The trio is believed to have systematically scouted vacant houses across multiple prefectures, revealing the scale of an organized, wide-ranging criminal operation. The method of targeting vacant houses follows a pattern seen in other cases involving foreign theft rings (related coverage). Current status: The case is at the arrest-and-referral stage; whether prosecutors will indict the suspects had not been determined as of this writing.
A scale of 167 burglaries across 11 prefectures with an estimated 24 million yen in damages is difficult to attribute to a lone individual, suggesting the existence of an organized theft network in which multiple members divided roles to scout vacant houses. Because it is difficult to confirm whether the owner of a vacant house is present, such crimes are said to often be carefully planned after repeated reconnaissance.
Another wide-ranging theft case involved farm equipment stolen across Tochigi, Gunma, and Saitama prefectures (related coverage), part of a string of crackdowns on organized, wide-area theft rings involving foreign nationals.