Investigators in Ibaraki recently apprehended a man who was involved in stealing thousands of items. The man hadn’t gone on a shoplifting spree, though. In fact, he didn’t even go into a shop, but has been arrested for the theft of roughly 3,000 pears.
In early August, Ibaraki Prefectural Police received information that there may be a foreigner without legal permission to stay in Japan who was living inside an out-of-business hotel in the town of Kasama. When investigators went to search the hotel on August 6, they found an unemployed 31-year-old Vietnamese man and approximately 1,800 pears of the kosui variety in plastic crates. They also discovered a scale, cardboard shipping boxes, and shipping receipts.
When questioned, the man admitted to stealing the fruit from orchards in the town’s Ago district. He took advantage of pear season approaching when many varieties are already edible but not at their peak deliciousness yet. Farmers leave them on the branch to ripen just a little more during this time. The window allowed him to steal around 3,000 pears between August 1 and August 2 with the intent to resell them. “I looked for people on social media in the Vietnamese community who wanted to buy the pears and resold them,” said the man.
While pilfering pears may not sound as glamorous as targeting diamonds or works of fine art seen in heist movies if you steal enough like this case with approximately 3,000 pears it can result in significant financial gain and associated consequences. The total value of stolen fruit is estimated at about ¥870k.
It’s unclear from reports whether or not the man had indeed been staying illegally in Japan; however grand theft even involving fruit is likely grounds for residency permission revocation by immigration authorities. Investigators are also looking into whether or not there were other individuals involved as picking such large quantities quickly without getting spotted seems like more than a one-person job. They are also investigating possible connections between this case and recent pear thefts that occurred at farms located Tsuchiura and Chikusei cities within Ibaraki prefecture last month.