Onlookers thought they were witnessing the filming of a TV drama or movie when three masked men burst into a luxury watch store in Tokyo’s upscale Ginza district in broad daylight. There was also
However, the robbery in May 2023 was real. The incident was carried out by a group of 16-year-old to 19-year-old youths who were recruited online. Tokuryu As Japan’s yakuza clans decline, the influence of the authorities has increased.
Who is Tokuryu?
Consists of the characters “anonymous” (Tokumei) and “fluid” (Ryudou)term Tokuryu Refers to a special group formed to carry out a crime, whose members often do not know each other or the members planning and directing the activity. They differ from the Yakuza in that they are less hierarchical and typically have a loose organizational structure above those who carry out crimes ranging from robbery and fraud to assault and murder.
Most of the people arrested for such crimes are so-called online recruits. Dark part-time job, or a casual job in the shade. Many of them told police that threats had been made against them and their families to continue complying with the order. Some say they were recruited through Instagram.
The three suspects in the watch robbery and the alleged getaway driver had no criminal history. Despite taking away 74 watches worth approximately 300 million yen, all four were captured within an hour and all stolen items were recovered.
One of the defendants, an unemployed 18-year-old, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison in September 2023 after pleading guilty. The other two members, who were 19 at the time of the robbery, were given the same sentence the following month, and the 16-year-old boy was sent to a juvenile facility for evaluation and training.
A Metropolitan Police Department official told Gendai Media, “Behind the young people was not a designated organized crime group, but a fraudulent group made up primarily of organized crime group members and quasi-organized gang members from the Kanto region.” [around Tokyo]”
How big of a problem are they?
According to the National Police Agency, more than 10,000 people arrested from September 2021 to February 2023 are classified as special crimes.
National Police Agency Commissioner Yasuhiro Tsuyuki said the following immediately after the 2023 watch theft conviction. Police forces across the country need to cooperate in a swift and effective investigation. ”
In Fukuoka Prefecture, on the southern island of Kyushu, police last month set up a 100-person division to combat rising crime. Tokuryu threat. The prefecture was once a yakuza stronghold.
Violent crimes are rare in Japan, and from 2021 to 2023 there were dozens of robberies across the country, one of which left a 90-year-old woman dead, shocking the nation.
The robbery was allegedly organized by a Japanese group operating in the Philippines. Commonly known as “Luffy” The gang, named after one of its leaders for using a famous cartoon character on a messaging app, conducted phone scams and blackmailed Japanese businessmen working in Manila.
More than 30 members have been extradited to Japan, and several are still being held in the Philippines. Some of the members are former yakuza.other Tokuryu The group is suspected of being affiliated with and sharing interests with traditional gangs.
It has also been discovered that organized crime groups are also active in Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam, all locations where Yakuza are known to be active.
What happened to the Yakuza?
After a continued crackdown on yakuza syndicates, membership in yakuza organizations has declined by 2 in the last year from a peak of more than 180,000 in the 1960s, as older generations find it harder to lure young people with promises of easy money. The number of people decreased to 400,000.
Tougher laws, including those targeting companies with ties to gangs that once operated with little impunity, have made a life of crime increasingly unattractive. Yakuza members are prohibited from opening bank accounts, obtaining credit cards, taking out or even signing insurance policies. Mobile phone contract.
Due to crackdowns, the average age of yakuza has steadily increased. “Japan’s aging population is of course a factor, but the yakuza scene is no longer an attractive option for young men,” author and yakuza expert Tomohiko Suzuki told the Guardian in 2020. They end up living the life of a gangster, but the profits are increasingly diminishing. ”
