Confiscated Nike Air Jordan sneakers are seen at the Metropolitan Police Department's Itabashi Police Station on Nov. 30, 2021. (Mainichi/Maki Kihara)

       Confiscated Nike Air Jordan sneakers are seen at the Metropolitan Police Department's Itabashi Police Station on Nov. 30, 2021. (Mainichi/Maki Kihara)

       TOKYO -- Six men have been arrested for allegedly stealing some 300 pairs of popular sneakers including Nike's Air Jordan 6 basketball shoes, the Metropolitan Police Department announced on Nov. 30.

       The arrested are Yutaka Matsuo, 23, of unknown occupation, from Yokohama's Minami Ward, and five 20-year-old Chinese nationals, among whom four were 19 at the time of the incident, on suspicion of theft and trespassing.

       The suspects allegedly broke the lock of a warehouse on the first floor of a building in Tokyo's Itabashi Ward between around 3:40 a.m. and 4 a.m. on Feb. 13 and stole about 300 pairs of sneakers -- worth some 6.65 million yen (approximately $58,800). They are believed to have loaded cars with the stolen items and fled. Police have not clarified whether they have admitted to the allegations.

       According to the second division of the organized crime response, all stolen sneakers were popular shoes traded for tens of thousands of yen (several hundred dollars), including Nike's "Air Jordan 6 Carmine," "Air Jordan 1 Retro" and Adidas' "Yeezy Boost 350 V2," the latter of which were developed jointly with famous rapper Kanye West.

       The warehouse was managed by a shoe sales company in the capital, and about 1,000 pairs of new sneakers were stored at the site. The six men's involvement emerged from eyewitness reports and footage of security cameras around a condominium, among other evidence.

       (Japanese original by Kazuki Mogami, Tokyo City News Department)

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