Late-night Shibuya can get weird. Real weird.
A Japanese guy in his twenties was out looking for some company when he approached a long-haired “woman” on the street. They chatted through a translation app, hit it off, and ended up heading to a hotel. Champagne was ordered. The “woman” kept pushing the drinks, telling him to keep going.
Four glasses later, our guy was out cold. When he woke up, he was alone. His wallet was lighter by ¥27,000 and his cash card was gone.
Turns out the long-haired companion wasn’t a woman at all. Police arrested 29-year-old Malaysian national Muhammad Shafiq bin Baharen on suspicion of slipping sleeping pills into the champagne and cleaning the guy out while he was unconscious.
The victim later told investigators, “I thought the whole time that [he] was a woman.” Classic.
He even noticed white powder at the bottom of one of the glasses but still finished the drink. Bold strategy. Didn’t work out.
It’s still unclear whether Baharen was deliberately presenting as a woman to lure guys in, or if it was just a case of mistaken identity that he decided to roll with. Either way, the Japanese man was the one who initiated the conversation and suggested hanging out.
Baharen has denied the allegations so far. The victim came to after the fact, realized he’d been cleaned out, and reported it at a police box near Shibuya Station.
Moral of the story? Late-night hotel invites with strangers you just met via translation app carry risks. Especially when the champagne tastes a little too powdery. Stay sharp out there.