By all appearances, he was just another commuter on a packed train. But when 46-year-old Vitaly Shemshkevich reached into a fellow passenger’s bag on the JR Yamanote Line during evening rush hour, two officers from the Tokyo Railway Police were watching from just behind.
The Russian national was arrested on the spot for attempted theft — not for the first time, and, police suspect, not close to the last. According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, Shemshkevich has entered and exited Japan approximately 20 times since 2023. Each time he landed, pickpocketing reports surfaced in his wake. He is now suspected in at least 14 separate theft cases across Tokyo’s rail network, all mirroring the same method: exploiting commuter congestion, blending into the crowd and striking with practiced sleight of hand.
On June 13, police caught him mid-act using a jacket to shield his movement while reaching into a commuter’s bag. When stopped, he denied wrongdoing. “The zipper was closed. It couldn’t have been taken,” he reportedly told officers.
A Fixed Pattern
What makes this case so unusual isn’t just the method — though police say it was textbook — but the frequency, persistence and international aspect of it.
Shemshkevich’s repeat visits suggest a form of cross-border opportunism that has, until now, been relatively rare in Japan’s domestic crime reporting. Tokyo police had already begun monitoring his movements after noticing a clear correlation between his entries into Japan and spikes in train thefts. The suspect is thought to have maintained a consistent pattern: fly in, ride the rail network, target congested lines and leave. Repeat.
Though the scope of the thefts remains under investigation, authorities say this case exemplifies a broader uptick in commuter crimes. As of late May, Tokyo had already logged 127 reported pickpocketing incidents — a 60 percent increase from the same period in 2024.
Crowds Are Back — And So Are the Thieves
Japan’s post-COVID tourism boom has been good for business — and for thieves. As Tokyo’s hotspots return to full capacity, some are exploiting the crowds and the anonymity they offer.
The most vulnerable are often those who assume they are safe. Tokyo’s famously low crime rate has cultivated a level of trust — or complacency — among commuters. Bags are routinely left unattended in cafes, phones rest casually on train seats, and the idea of being pickpocketed still strikes many residents as unthinkable.
There’s no indication that travel-linked crime is widespread, or that foreign visitors are inherently suspect. But Shemshkevich’s arrest is a reminder that even in one of the world’s safest cities, criminal tactics evolve — especially when trust is part of the infrastructure.
