The two Japanese fugitives were Naka Yoshitaka, male, born on July 2, 1988, a Japanese national holding passport number TZ2210427, who was wanted on International Red Notice No. A-8496/7-2024 dated July 23, 2024 for loan sharking; and Nakanishi Tomochika, male, born on June 12, 1995, a Japanese national, holding passport number MJ1600119, wanted by the Okinawa District Court, Japan, for the same charge.
According to the National Police Agency of Japan, via the INTERPOL Japan Office (Division of International Investigative Operations, Criminal Affairs Bureau), the two suspects, along with their accomplices, used social media platforms to form a criminal organization that operated an unregistered high-interest loan business, which violated the Japanese laws.
From December 24, 2021, to August 4, 2023, the group illegally released loans to over 600 individuals in Japan. When borrowers were unable to repay, the suspects coerced them into illegal activities, such as prostitution, or forced them to hand over mobile phone numbers and bank accounts registered under their names, which were then used to serve their loan-sharking operation. The group illicitly profited more than 640 million Japanese yen.
Upon receiving an official request from the INTERPOL Japan Office and the National Police Agency of Japan, the Office of the MPS Criminal Investigation Authority promptly verified that the two suspects had entered Vietnam and were residing in Ho Chi Minh City.
In June 2025, the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department discovered that the two Japanese were residing in Tan Phong Ward, District 7.
Local authorities found that the two Japanese had committed several administrative violations in Vietnam, including travelling without passports, overstaying their temporary residency permits being overdue by more than 90 days in Vietnam, and illegal use of narcotic substances.
They were then confirmed to be fugitives internationally wanted by Japanese authorities.
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| Vietnamese police hand over two fugitives to Japanese authorities. |
Following the standard legal and diplomatic procedures, on July 23, 2025, Vietnamese authorities officially handed over Naka Yoshitaka and Nakanishi Tomochika to a delegation from the Division of International Investigative Operations (INTERPOL Japan Office) under the National Police Agency of Japan at Tan Son Nhat International Airport.
At the handover ceremony, representatives of the Japanese police expressed their sincere appreciation to the leadership of the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam, the involved police units and local authorities and the INTERPOL Vietnam Office for their effective and close cooperation in apprehending and safely transferring the fugitives.
The transfer of the wanted fugitives reflected the increasingly close, efficient and results-oriented cooperation between Vietnam and Japan in combating transnational crime, particularly after the Annual Vietnam–Japan INTERPOL Bilateral Meeting Mechanism established in October 2024.