Some 420 million yen was stolen from ATMs near the crisis-hit Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant between the onset of the nuclear disaster and the end of June, National Police Agency (NPA) figures have shown.
Figures released by the NPA on July 14 showed thieves broke into convenience stores within the 20-kilometer evacuation zone around the plant 25 times during the period, stealing roughly 420 million yen from ATMs in the stores. There were also 106 cases of vacant houses being burglarized.
Access to the zone was restricted by the government on April 22. Police stepped up checkpoints and other control measures from early April, and the NPA believes that most of the burglaries occurred between the onset of the nuclear disaster and the end of March.
Convenience store ATM burglaries also occurred in areas outside the 20-kilometer zone where residents evacuated due to tsunami damage. As of the end of June, there were 14 confirmed cases in Miyagi Prefecture in which some 165 million yen was stolen, four cases in Fukushima Prefecture in which 57 million yen was taken, and two cases in Iwate Prefecture in which thieves took 27 million yen.
Operators of convenience stores in the disaster area have been collecting money from abandoned ATMs at the request of police. So far, they have collected around 3 billion yen from 192 locations.
Senior NPA officials say that the burglaries are dying down. Overall crime from March to June in the three prefectures was down compared to last year.
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