Thai workers in Japan to face deportation for illegal lobster poaching
Japanese Coast Guard officers arrested four Thai technician trainees in Choshi City, Chiba prefecture, Japan, for illegally poaching spiny lobsters.
The arrests were widely discussed online, particularly within the Thai community in Japan. Many users criticised the group for ignoring warning signs at the location and argued that the incident could damage the reputation of Thai people working in Japan.
Some Japanese social media users called for the trainees to be deported and banned from re-entering the country, while others questioned Japan’s trainee programmes and their impact on crime rates.
According to reports translated by the Facebook page เจแปน – แจนแปล (Japan-Jaenpae), the incident occurred at a pier in Choshi City. Japanese Coast Guard officers had been monitoring the area after receiving information that a group of suspects were fishing illegally at night.
When officers arrived, they found four men carrying fishing equipment. The suspects were caught in the act after one of them pulled a lobster from the water, prompting officers to move in.
Following the footage shared by Japanese news agencies, all four men attempted to flee but were quickly apprehended.
The suspects initially denied the allegations. However, officers discovered spiny lobsters in their bags. Some of the men allegedly threw their bags into the water during the pursuit.
Authorities recovered nine spiny lobsters weighing a combined 1.6 kilogrammes. The suspects claimed that the lobsters were intended for personal consumption rather than for sale.
While some Japanese media outlets referred to the suspects only as foreign technical trainees, several news organisations identified them as Thai nationals.
The four Thai trainees remain in custody while legal proceedings continue. According to multiple media reports, the suspects could face prosecution before being deported. The offence reportedly carries a maximum fine of 1 million yen, or approximately 220,000 baht.
The Japan-Jaenpae Facebook page also noted that another Thai national was arrested in 2020 for the same offence, with four spiny lobsters seized during that case.
The page added that authorities have made numerous arrests at the same location over the years. In some cases, suspects were allegedly catching the lobsters for resale, as individual spiny lobsters can reportedly fetch up to 15,000 yen, or more than 3,000 baht.
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