ASIA CRIME CENTURY


 

The Japan National Police Agency reported last week that over 10,000 tokuryū (anonymous and fluid) criminals were arrested in the three years up to 2023. According to the NPA, tokuryū criminals are only loosely connected and are different from the traditional Yakuza, or Boryokudan, gang members in Japan.

The NPA classification of Tokuryū seems to be people who are engaged in low level criminal activity without organised crime coordination. Of the 10,378 people believed to be Tokuryū members arrested, 6,170 were involved in fraud such as telephone scams, 2,292 in drug trafficking, 1,721 in "criminal infrastructure" development such as issuing fake passports, facilitating illegal employment and operating underground banks, and 195 in robberies, thefts and other petty crimes.

Because of this wide ranging scope of criminality, it is interesting to ask why the NPA classify those arrested as “members” of Tokuryū.

Crime in Japan seems to be changing. There is a steady decline in the number and power of Yakuza gang members (Asian Crime Century briefing 19). There is a rise in more informal crime, notably related to offers of yami baito (or shady part-time jobs) that are even advertised on social media Asian Crime Century briefing January 2023).

In 2023, the Japan Internet Hotline Center requested internet service providers to remove 3,379 online postings of crime-related information, 90% of which were recruitment advertisements for yami baito jobs.

Prevention has been a key part of the police approach, and in March 2023 the NPA requested employment agencies to strengthen measures to remove such illegal and harmful job advertisements and is engaging in more public education. Even Japanese girl pop idols AKB48 have been enlisted to help educate elderly people targeted by criminals for telecom fraud (shown in the image above).

Online fraud conducted by both coordinated gangs and also individuals is wide ranging. In March, the NPA announced that in 2023 social media-based investment frauds and romance scam cases led to ¥45.52 billion (around $300 million) in losses by victims, with another ¥44.12 billion stolen in remittance and other special fraud cases.

In all 2023, Japanese police recorded 19,033 cyber and phone scams, an 8.3% increase from 2022.

Online fraud offers new opportunities for enterprising individuals without the need to join a traditional criminal gang.

In August 2023, a 25 year old woman was arrested by police for selling dating fraud manuals to her social media followers. The guides produced by Miss “Itadakijoshi Riri-chan (‘Riri the sugar baby’) included titles such as ‘Textbook for Sugar Babies: The Right Profile and Magical Words to Make Men Pay,’ which taught young women how to obtain money from middle aged men.

Top tips for women making more money from Sugar Daddies included telling them that she had had an unhappy childhood, or saying that she were unable to work due to health problems and urgently needed money to pay rent. It seems like the gig economy meets online fraud with bespoke training.


The overseas Tokuryū

The new wave of Tokuryū is not only a domestic phenomenon and Japanese criminals have been making their mark overseas. In December 2023, the NPA reported that 69 Japanese fraud suspects operating overseas were arrested by Japanese police in 2023 following extradition proceedings.

The Japanese fraud groups were found operating in Cambodia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, a trend that the NPA attributed to improved detection capabilities in Japan influencing criminals to move overseas.

Whilst the police claim may be true, it is hard to prove and it is more likely that Japanese criminals use the same advantages as criminals around the world of Internet anywhere access that enables online fraud to be operated from almost any location.

The shift overseas by some Japanese criminals is similar to the growth of international Chinese organised crime as more groups engage in online and telecom fraud from anywhere, although to a far lesser extent. One outcome of this trend, according to the NPA, is improved proactive Japanese police cooperation with overseas police agencies.

Two major overseas cases were standouts in 2023. In November, the authorities in Cambodia deported 25 Japanese nationals who were operating telecom fraud that led to multiple victims across Japan losing millions of Yen. Cambodia has been a centre for these groups, with 19 Japanese nationals arrested for fraud in April and three more in May, all later handed over to the police in Japan.

In February, the Japanese police arrested four Japanese men when they were deported from the Philippines after being found to be organising fraud in Japan that led to the loss of over $45 million.

The culprits, known as the “Luffy Gang” (after the nickname used by the leader), used the Telegram App to remotely organise from their base in the Philippines a series of violent robberies that were committed in Japan.

Over 30 Japanese nationals were arrested by the Philippines police for their involvement in calling mostly elderly people in Japan to defraud them. The gang members pretended to be police officers or government officials when they called victims in Japan, warning them that their financial accounts were compromised and they needed to check their bank details.

Further police investigations in the Philippines and Japan led to the discovery of the “JP Dragon gang”, which was allegedly controlling the “Luffy gang”.

 In March 2024, the Philippines Police arrested a Japanese national who is allegedly the “number three” leader of the “JP Dragon” gang, and one other member, both of whom are to be deported back to Japan. The “Luffy gang” case has illustrated to the Japanese authorities how easy it is for Japanese criminals to operate outside of Japan and coordinate online the commission of crimes inside the country.


Sayonara Yakuza

In contrast to the growth of online fraud and Tokuryū anonymous and fluid criminals, there are continued reports in Japan of a decline in Yakuza membership and influence, which has waned since the enactment of an anti-organised crime law in 1992.

According to the NPA, members and associates of Yakuza, or “designated crime syndicates”, was 22,400 at the end of 2022, continuing an eighteenth consecutive year-on-year decline in numbers.

Japanese police analysis has also found changes in criminal activity of some Yakuza, with those arrested for extortion and gambling decreasing whilst those engaged in fraud has increased.

Yakuza members may have adapted to post-pandemic changing economic and social conditions, with less emphasis on traditional organised criminal activities and more on individualistic online and telecom fraud.

The distributed, anonymous and fluid nature of online fraud means that there is even less need for an organised and structured Yakuza criminal enterprise that offers protection and opportunities for its members.

The decline of Yakuza gangs was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which reportedly led to a major decrease in their revenue from religious and traditional festivals in Japan.

Some Yakuza gangs had an income stream from low level street vendors selling goods at festivals, which were cancelled during 2020 because of the pandemic. Following the post-pandemic opening up some Yakuza groups reportedly tried to submit fraudulent claims for government subsidies offered as business relief, but the police quickly took action against these frauds.

The Iijima-kai, an old Yakuza gang which was formed in 1868, had 23 of its members arrested in 2022 and 2023 for allegedly receiving around 53 million yen in government subsidies in 2020 and 2021.

Whilst Yakuza membership is clearly declining, the volume of ‘hangure’ (semi-organised criminal gangs or groups) as well as dispersed online fraud is increasing.

This makes policing harder as Yakuza were historically at least largely in plain sight and even registered organisations, but the new breed of Japanese criminals do not adhere to a code and are tokuryū, anonymous and fluid.