Suspected Same Group Behind Over 20 Violent Crimes
Including Suspect in Tokyo Murder Case
A new type of crime has emerged in Japan, where high-paying part-time jobs are recruited through social networking services (SNS) and then used to carry out robbery acts.
A man in his 20s, who was arrested for an attempted robbery incident that occurred in Yamaguchi Prefecture last November, said that after seeing a post on SNS offering a daily wage of 1 million yen (about 10 million won), he called the recruiter and was told it was a "tataki" with a 1 million yen reward.
The man learned through internet searches that "tataki" is slang for robbery, but he said he got involved in the crime, tempted by the high pay.
The Japanese archipelago has been thrown into turmoil by a new type of crime involving high-paying part-time job recruitment through SNS, leading to a series of robberies across Japan. The image is not related to the specific content of the article. [Image source=Pixabay]
A woman in her 40s, arrested for an incident at a wristwatch store in Kyoto City last May, was lured by the phrase "several million yen (tens of millions of won) per job" and got involved in the crime. She was sentenced to 2 years and 8 months in prison by the court.
According to local media such as the Yomiuri Shimbun on the 27th, Japanese police estimate that the same criminal group is involved in more than 20 robbery and theft cases that have occurred continuously since last year in 14 metropolitan local governments including the Tokyo metropolitan area.
According to investigators, the common method in these cases is recruiting "dark part-time job executors" through SNS, then having them break into houses or stores, tie up the owners, and steal valuables.
The "directors," called "Rufi," "Kim," and others, recruit executors with high daily wages such as "1 million yen per day." Japanese police believe that the directors issue crime instructions via Telegram from the Philippines.
Since last October, 14 robbery cases have occurred in eight metropolitan local governments including Tokyo, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Hiroshima, and Yamaguchi, and recent robbery and theft cases in six metropolitan local governments including Osaka, Gunma, Shiga, Kyoto, Okayama, and Fukuoka have used similar methods, leading police to suspect the same group's involvement.
Police across various regions have arrested about 30 executors in their teens to 30s and are conducting investigations. Among them is a suspect in a robbery-murder case that occurred in Tokyo on the 19th.
One arrested executor reportedly stated to the Asahi Shimbun, "Since I had provided my identity and family composition in advance, even if I wanted to quit later, I couldn't because it could harm my family and workplace."
The police authorities have established a joint investigation headquarters and are making every effort to capture the ringleaders.
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