Tokyo police have arrested four people on suspicion of providing unlicensed taxis for foreign tourists making airport transfers.

Investigative sources say two of the suspects arranged taxis through brokers for tourists who had ordered them from online travel reservation service Booking.com.

The four, including two Chinese nationals, allegedly used their own vehicles to transport foreign travelers between hotels in Tokyo and Chiba Prefecture and Tokyo's Haneda Airport between December and February.

The four are suspected of violating the Road Transportation Act. They have reportedly told police they provided the illegal services to pay for their living expenses.

The number of foreign tourists visiting Japan has soared since the government eased COVID restrictions last year.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department says it received 20 complaints about unlicensed taxi services in 2023. There had been four complaints the previous year.

The police say it appears the travelers were unaware that the taxis they had booked online were illegal and they were mainly from China, Taiwan and the Philippines.

Police have been cracking down this month on unlicensed taxis in places visited by many foreign tourists, including Haneda Airport and the Ginza shopping district.

Booking.com's office in Japan says it found a multiple number of cases where ride-hailing operators had dispatched unlicensed taxis to customers since December.

The office says operators who sign contracts with Booking.com agree not to provide illegal services.

It says customers cannot make bookings with operators who breach their contracts.