Tokyo police arrested a 31-year-old Chinese man on suspicion of setting up a radio station without permission after a car-mounted device sent out signals in Ginza, in the first prosecution in Japan over jamming a mobile carrier's communications, the Asahi Shimbun reported.
The Metropolitan Police Department said it arrested Yu Hairong, a resident of Kita Ward, Tokyo, on suspicion of violating the Radio Act by opening a radio station without permission. He was arrested in the act, the force said on Monday.
Police also sent his case to prosecutors the same day on suspicion of interfering with important radio communications, a separate violation of the same law. He is accused of disrupting a telecommunications carrier's radio equipment.
According to the force's security division, Yu installed a radio device inside a passenger car on a street in Ginza 5-chome, Chuo Ward, on November 7 and transmitted signals without permission from the minister of internal affairs and communications.
The device emitted signals on the outdated 2G standard. Police believe it was a fake base station, equipment that poses as a legitimate cell tower to disrupt the phones of people nearby, and are investigating further.
Yu drove the car through busy districts including Ginza and Shinjuku with the device aboard, the Asahi Shimbun reported.
“I have never used a radio device. I don't have one in my car, and I don't know anything about this.”Yu, according to his statement to police
The Radio Act bans acts that interfere with important radio communications, which covers not only telecommunications services but also broadcasting, fire and aviation services, among others.
Police had received a series of reports of smartphones suddenly losing signal in Ginza.