The number of “black job robberies” is increasing and the newest investigation method is being introduced.

The year of ’24 was a year of frequent robberies by “black market” operators. The crimes have continued to worsen, including the murder of the victims. Nonfiction writer Masahiro Ojima delves into the depths of these crimes and the latest developments in the investigation.

A number of robberies have been committed by young people who applied for “black-market jobs” that offered unbelievably high compensation, even at the end of the year. On December 22, there were two robberies in Chiba Prefecture, and the police are still pursuing the whereabouts of the perpetrators, who have fled the scene. The police are still investigating whether the robberies are related to a series of robberies by an anonymous and mobile crime group, known as Tokuryu, that have occurred in the Tokyo metropolitan area since this fall, but the robberies share a similar pattern of breaking into homes and assaulting the victims. The police authorities are planning to introduce new investigation methods next year, but it remains to be seen whether they will be able to eradicate the black market.

In October, an unemployed man, 75, was murdered and robbed of approximately 200,000 yen in cash at a house in Aoba Ward, Yokohama City. A senior police investigator said, “Many of the perpetrators are ordinary young people who would not be expected to cause such a heinous crime. They are afraid of resistance from the residents, so they are more violent than necessary. They don’t know how to control the level of violence, which leads to serious damage,” he surmises.

Perhaps it is because they are ordinary young people,” continued a senior police investigator, “that some of them are surprised at the magnitude of what they have done during the interrogation after their arrest, and some of them cry out of apology and regret. All of the arrestees in the series of incidents in the Tokyo metropolitan area had applied for black market jobs on social networking sites. Not only do the people who carry out the crimes not get paid, but they are also used and discarded in the same way.

Prime Minister Ishiba’s Unusual Announcement

In addition to the Tokyo metropolitan area, five unemployed men and others were arrested for poaching salmon in Shari-cho, Hokkaido. The men had also gathered from Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures after applying for a black market job on a social networking service. There have been other incidents suspected to be related to this case, and the possibility of another group of Tokuryu cannot be ruled out. In November, Kumamoto police raided the headquarters of the Dojinkai gang in Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture, on suspicion of violating the Employment Security Law, and the total number of similar incidents is expected to increase further.

The increase in the number of incidents and the growing number of violent crimes has also prompted the government to act.

The government has also taken action. “Lately, not a day goes by that we don’t hear about robberies and frauds committed by so-called “black market” operators,” said Mr. Kuroda. （These crimes must not be allowed to continue. We will further promote our efforts to thoroughly arrest the so-called anonymous and mobile criminal groups that are the main actors in these malicious incidents.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (67), who felt a sense of crisis at the extreme deterioration of the public’s sense of security, emphasized this determination in his policy speech at the extraordinary Diet session at the end of November. It was unusual for him to mention the incidents in his Diet speech.

Is the Lack of Kaketsuko Leading to a Switch to Robbery?

What is behind the string of robberies? Another senior police official analyzes, “There may be a shortage of ‘callers’ who make phone calls for special frauds such as the “Oreore” scam.

Even if there is a separate person who writes the scenario, the caller may not be able to answer the phone in a way that is appropriate for a scam call, such as, “I am from the police, and your bank account has been misused,” or, “I am an investigator from the IRS. I’m an investigator with the IRS, and I’m investigating a case of tax evasion. However, since there is a shortage of skilled talkers, Tokuryu, who used to engage in special fraud, may have changed his tactics to robbery, which is a quicker and more profitable way to get money.

A senior anti-social force gangster believes that the change in the character of young people is also a factor in the increase in the number of black market jobbers.

In the past, delinquents were initiated into the yakuza because of their admiration for them. However, when they join the yakuza, they are initially required to live in a room in the boss’s house and office, where they are required to clean, wash, and cook meals, as an apprentice. In addition, there is a special custom and a strict upper and lower class. In addition, the yakuza have their own customs and strict hierarchical relationships, which is why they have been shunned in recent years. It is more fun to be with like-minded people. That is why they have become like the semi-gres and are trying to get easy money by recruiting people to work part-time in the dark.

As a countermeasure against the continuing violent incidents, the government convened a cabinet meeting on December 17 to request social networking service providers to remove problematic recruitment postings such as “white-collar jobs” and “instant cash” from their sites. In addition to preventing crimes, the government also decided to request that the police use new investigative methods such as “disguised identity investigations.

A “disguised identity investigation” is an investigative method in which investigators forge driver’s licenses and other documents to apply for a part-time job and contact the criminal group when Tokuryu recruits for a black market job on SNS. When the perpetrators gather at the scene of a robbery, investigators who were on the lookout ahead of the robbers will seize them and arrest them on preliminary robbery charges. Some have pointed out that forgery of licenses and other documents violates the crime of forgery of official documents, but the Criminal Code’s provision that “acts committed in the course of legitimate business shall not be punished” allows the illegal nature of such acts to be avoided.

At a press conference held on December 12 prior to the Ministerial Conference on Crime Control, Yasuhiro Hiroki of the National Police Agency named the masquerade identity investigation the “pretending to be hired operation. He emphasized that “it is an effective way for investigators to respond to the recruitment without revealing their identities, leading to arrests.

However, even if a disguised identity search can be used to capture the perpetrator of a crime in the attempted stage, it is unclear whether the existence of the instructor can be confirmed. A “digital forensic investigation” is underway to recover the data on the smartphone seized from the perpetrator, but the investigation into the directing actor is proving difficult. However, if Tokuryu’s instructor, who is in a safe zone on a social networking service, makes a mistake that causes him to appear in the real world, it could lead to a breakthrough in the investigation.

A senior law enforcement official said, “Roles other than those of the executors, such as recruiters and carriers of money taken in robberies, are gradually being arrested. We hope to find a way forward by promoting both digital investigations as well as investigations that trace these roles back to the directing officers,” he said. The investigation is continuing with great effort to eradicate the crime of “Tokuryu.