Rubbers Manipulated and Threatened by a Gang Like Modus with Leader Outside Japan

More than 30 people have been arrested.

Since last October, there have been a series of robberies in eight prefectures in Japan, including Ibaraki, Tochigi, Kanagawa, Hiroshima, and Yamaguchi. The vicious crimes have continued, including the murder of Kiyo Oshio, 90, in Komae City, Tokyo, who was assaulted all over her body and killed in her home. On January 26, another suspect, Kentaro Ohko, 33, an unemployed man living in Fujiidera City, Osaka Prefecture, was arrested on suspicion of robbery and manslaughter for punching a male resident of Nakano Ward in the face and taking approximately 30 million yen.

The perpetrators had applied for a “dark job” on the Internet to commit the crime. The persons calling themselves ‘Rufi,’ ‘Mitsuhashi,’ and ‘Kim’ were giving the instructions. The smart fins of the perpetrators had a history of incoming calls from the Philippine country code “63,” and it is believed that “Luffy” was manipulating them from overseas. Rufi is currently being held at an immigration detention facility in the Philippines, and Japan is seeking his repatriation.

In the “black market job,” he offered favorable conditions such as “10 million yen reward for tataki (robbery)” and “1 million yen per day. It is believed that the instructor decided the place and time of the attack based on a “black book” containing the addresses, telephone numbers, and family situations of elderly people with large sums of cash. The perpetrators were divided into detailed roles, such as “driver” and “lookout.” In many cases, the perpetrators did not know each other’s names and met for the first time at the scene of the crime.

Most of the perpetrators were in debt or addicted to gambling and had financial difficulties. They may have been dazzled by the high price tag and decided to commit the crimes.

When you go robbing, you may as well kill.

The statements of the arrested criminals gradually revealed the true and terrifying face of “Rufi”.

The arrested criminals’ statements gradually revealed the horrifying side of “Rufi,” who told them, “When we go robbing, it’s okay to kill (residents). He is said to be a man with a ‘crazy’ personality who ‘doesn’t know what he’s going to do.”

“Rufi” did not only remotely and specifically instruct the perpetrators of the robberies to commit the crimes, but also terrorized and controlled them.

“It seems that ‘Rufi’ used ‘Telegram,’ a communication app that erases information after a certain amount of time, to ask the perpetrators to send him their mug shots and images of their identification documents, such as driver’s licenses. Once the images were sent, he will threaten them with words, ‘If you run away, you will be in terrible trouble.’ Since they even told him about their family, they could not simply leave the group for fear of harm to their relatives.

In fact, one of the perpetrators stated, “A stranger came to my house out of the blue,” and “I thought I was being watched. I’ve joined a terrible organization,” he said. This method of control is the same structure as the special fraud cases run by gangs and semi-gangs. “Rufi” is believed to be an antisocial person.

The police plan to begin a full-scale investigation of “Rufi” as soon as he is extradited from the Philippines.