&#8220;A wide-area robbery incident involving a special fraud group known as &#8216;Luffy,&#8217; which shocked Japan, occurred. It has been a year and a half since the main suspects, including Yuki Watanabe, were extradited to Japan, but remnants of the group are still active locally. Through investigation, it has become clear that a mysterious figure known as the &#8216;fugitive facilitation operator&#8217; exists, and Southeast Asia continues to be a hotbed for these criminal groups.”
<figure id="attachment_383599" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 628px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-383599"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="02fe1648"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/07/a16fe58ac7f7c5cbc6c01ea15dc0b345.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-383599" class="wp-caption-text">Members of a Japanese special fraud group being apprehended by local authorities. What is the latest situation of their activities, primarily operating in Southeast Asia?</figcaption></figure>
Japanese men from a special fraud group based in Cambodia had simultaneously fled to the Philippines.
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On July 17, the Philippine Bureau of Immigration detained four Japanese men in Manila on charges of violating immigration laws. These men had entered the country from Cambodia, which had been a base for their fraud operations, in January of this year. They are expected to be forcibly deported to Japan soon. According to the Bureau, besides these four, six other Japanese men also entered the Philippines from Cambodia and are still hiding within the country. In total, ten people fled Cambodia. The involvement of a mysterious figure who facilitated their escape in the Philippines has also come to light. 
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According to the Bureau, the detained suspects are Jun Kiyohara (29), Seiji Suzuki (29), Koshi Ueda (27), and Masaya Sawada (43). Of these, Sawada was apprehended at Manila International Airport, while the remaining three were detained in the residential area of &#8216;BF Homes,&#8217; located slightly outside of central Manila. An official from the Bureau stated:
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&#8220;The four men traveled to the Philippines to escape Cambodian law enforcement, but they had set up an office in the residential area where they were hiding and were attempting to commit new fraud schemes. Smartphones believed to have been used in their crimes were also confiscated and will be handed over to Japanese authorities as evidence.&#8221;
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In May of this year, arrest warrants for the four men had been issued by the Omiya Summary Court in Japan on charges of fraud. The remaining six are currently believed to be hiding in either Manila or Cebu, and investigations are ongoing.
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The ten individuals arrived sequentially at Manila International Airport from Cambodia in January. Their flights were staggered. According to Bureau officials, a mysterious &#8220;Filipino-Japanese half&#8221; played a role in facilitating their escape:
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&#8220;A man of mixed Japanese and Filipino heritage secured locations for these ten individuals in the Philippines and assisted in their escape. This half-Japanese man had previously stayed in Japan and was involved in a robbery case, receiving a prison sentence. It seems he met ten men during his stay in Japan.” 
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="The arrest is not the end of the story."></div>
<figure id="attachment_383600" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 634px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-383600"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="56461597"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/07/642c97116fffb74526c03020f95b90d7.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-383600" class="wp-caption-text">The suspects, who were apprehended and forced to lie face down on the road, were arrested in broad daylight in a residential area.</figcaption></figure>
The half-Japanese man in his early thirties, fluent in both Japanese and Tagalog and familiar with local conditions, was reportedly acting as an &#8220;escape facilitator&#8221; coordinating with Cambodian authorities. He is still residing in the Philippines.
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In January of last year, 19 Japanese individuals staying at a resort hotel in a southern port city of Cambodia were detained by local authorities for their involvement in special fraud. By September of the same year, 25 Japanese individuals operating out of an apartment in Phnom Penh were also detained for repeatedly committing special fraud. Together with the recent ten suspects, Cambodia has become a new base for special fraud groups.
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In contrast, in the Philippines, a special fraud group known as Luffy that committed widespread robbery incidents in Japan was active. While many of its leaders have already been forcibly deported to Japan, remnants of the group are still believed to be hiding in the Philippines, with estimates suggesting there are several dozen members. According to the Bureau, the four detainees are not connected to the Luffy Group. When a Japanese man in his twenties, who worked as a look-out for the Luffy Group in the Philippines, was shown photos of the four men, he responded:
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&#8220;I don’t recognize any of them. If they were from the &#8216;Luffy Group,&#8217; I would likely know them, so they must be from a different group.&#8221;
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The four are currently being held at the Bureau of Immigration’s detention facility, which was also used as a base by the Luffy Group for special fraud operations (commonly known as Bicutan). Currently detained there is Tomohiro Koyama (50), a leader of the delinquent Japanese organization JP Dragon. Koyama was transferred to the detention facility after being arrested by Philippine police on fraud charges in February this year. Due to ongoing legal proceedings, he has not yet been deported to Japan.
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JP Dragon has connections with the Luffy Group and was involved in special fraud targeting elderly Japanese citizens. Should the four detainees come into contact with Koyama while in detention, it could provide a link between the Cambodian and Philippine criminal groups, potentially complicating the organizational structure of special fraud groups further. The situation is becoming increasingly complex, with criminal activities in foreign territories challenging the scope of Japanese investigative authority.
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<figure id="attachment_383601" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1514px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-383601"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="f3d5a306"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/07/45f2a2d92217d98ebe71cb3b1af5bcff.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-383601" class="wp-caption-text">Four individuals were arrested in this case, and it is believed that six more members of the special fraud group remain hidden in the Philippines. Investigations are ongoing locally to eradicate the criminal group.</figcaption></figure>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="Arrested members of the special fraud group, &quot;Fearful True Face Photo&quot;"></div>
<figure id="attachment_383603" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 630px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-383603"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="6eddae56"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/07/b7092163bed6d705bdd3726e2c1ce6ec.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-383603" class="wp-caption-text">The arrested members are being held at the same foreigner detention facility where members of the Luffy Group, including Yuki Watanabe, were also imprisoned.</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_383604" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 950px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-383604"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="8150abbe"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/07/cd8d1385d5952615c1c8f9593efb5427.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-383604" class="wp-caption-text">The arrest warrants from Japan list the charge as &#8220;FRAUD&#8221; on the documents.</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_383605" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 624px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-383605"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="268473c0"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/07/68ede9ea9cac34db06bf1b243b790212.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-383605" class="wp-caption-text">Among the four arrested, three are in their twenties. This highlights that many young people continue to engage in criminal activities abroad.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_383606" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 936px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-383606"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="79a9140a"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/07/d64ad600ab2d1622ad7c2fcf364f6cf4.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-383606" class="wp-caption-text">The oldest suspect, Masaya Sawada, is the only one in his forties. The four are expected to be forcibly deported to Japan once local procedures are completed. </figcaption></figure>

 Born in Mie Prefecture in 1975. He won the 9th Ken Kaiko Nonfiction Award for his book "Men Who Left Japan Behind: Impoverished Japanese Living in the Philippines. His latest book is "Reporto: International Romance Fraud. He has covered the war in Ukraine and other conflicts around the world.

 Takehide Mizutani

 More than a year and a half has passed since a special fraud group calling itself "Rufy" shook Japan. However, Japanese groups are still active in Southeast Asia. We take a closer look at the latest developments.

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