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Thief poses as cigarette ID inspector, makes off with vending machine cash

Monday, 12 May 2008

FUKUYAMA, Hiroshima -- A man has been arrested after he posed as an inspector of an ID card for cigarette vending machines and stole the takings from a vendor here, police said.

Hiroshi Yokokawa, 66, unemployed of no fixed address, was arrested for theft and admits to the allegations.

Yokokawa is suspected of having used his alleged ruse to pilfer cigarette vending machines across Japan and a nationwide alert had been sent out for the fake inspector claiming to be checking up on the operations of Taspo cards.

Taspo are ID cards introduced this year by the Tobacco Institute of Japan to combat underage smoking. Many cigarette machines can only be used after reading a Taspo card to prove the buyer is legally entitled to purchase cigarettes. Nearly all cigarette vending machines will incorporate the card readers by the end of this year.

Police said Yokokawa was arrested for going to the Fukuyama Municipal Government office on April 21 posing as an employee of the Tobacco Institute of Japan and asking to check on cigarette machines, taking about 55,000 yen in cash from inside one after it was opened for him.

Yokokawa was caught in Kyoto on Saturday after police received a call about a man acting suspiciously around cigarette vending machines at a supermarket.

Institute officials said there had been eight cases of fake Taspo inspector robberies up until April 25.

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