TOKYO, Jan 30 — A team of three robbers stole suitcases holding US$2.7 million (RM10.64 million) in cash on a busy street in central Tokyo, police and media said today, a rare crime in the Japanese metropolis that prides itself on safety.

The heist saw the thieves deploy pepper spray to grab luggage containing the money at around 9.30pm yesterday near Ueno station, an area popular with tourists, a spokeswoman at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police told AFP on condition of anonymity.

She declined to give further details of the case, but local media said the victims were a group of five Chinese and Japanese nationals who were trying to place suitcases containing some 420 million yen (RM10.64 million) in a vehicle.

It was not immediately clear why the group was carrying the money.

Fuji Television said the victims told investigators that the cash was being delivered to currency exchange stations.

Separately, a man with 190 million yen in cash was also attacked with pepper spray by a group of three men in the early hours of today at a parking garage at Tokyo’s Haneda airport, local media said.

Police were investigating the link between the two attacks, broadcaster TBS said. — AFP