Overview
- Police say the case began with a May 14 break-in in Kamimikawa, Tochigi, in which 69-year-old Toyama Eiko was killed and investigators later named Masuda Kazuhiko as the alleged ringleader.
- Interpol published a red notice with Masuda’s photo and details on June 5 to ask member countries to detain him for extradition or surrender.
- Japan’s Foreign Ministry ordered Masuda to surrender his passport on June 3 with a deadline of June 24, after which his passport can be invalidated and he could be at risk of unlawful stay abroad.
- Authorities have arrested several co-defendants, including four 16-year-old high-school students and a suspected on-site coordinator, and investigators say Masuda allegedly recruited the perpetrators via an anonymity-focused messaging app and promised a large share of payment.
- A red notice is a request to law enforcement, not an automatic arrest order, so police plan to work with overseas agencies and dispatch investigators once Masuda’s location in Southeast Asia is confirmed, and the victim’s family and injured relatives remain directly affected by the ongoing probe.