Ringleader Identified: The Pattern Behind Dark Part-Time Job Crimes
The number of "black market job" crimes that occurred one after another last year has been drastically decreasing since January of this year. What exactly was behind it? Nonfiction writer Masahiro Ojima takes a close look at the front lines of the investigation.
More than 300 suspects arrested
A senior police official continued:
“Last year, while cracking down on perpetrators of dark part-time job crimes, the Special Fraud Task Force also arrested over 300 people involved in special fraud schemes such as ‘ore-ore’ scams. Additionally, numerous arrests were made of malicious hosts who forced female customers into prostitution to collect unpaid debts, as well as scouts who introduced women to sex-related businesses for prostitution purposes.
As these investigations progressed, dark part-time job robberies ceased from January of this year. Furthermore, some of the arrested hosts and scouts were found to have previous arrests related to special fraud. Given the timing of the crime stoppage and the backgrounds of those arrested, it is possible that some of them were the masterminds or coordinators behind these dark part-time job crimes.”
Police authorities have been working to identify those directing these crimes, but a significant challenge has been the use of highly anonymous messaging apps such as Telegram and Signal. Investigators have been conducting digital forensic investigations to analyze smartphones seized from arrested perpetrators and recover deleted messages related to robbery instructions.
The senior investigator added:
“Most of the deleted data could not be recovered, but in some cases, fragments of messages from Telegram and Signal were restored, including instructions like, ‘Hit this house (commit a robbery).’ The perpetrators indeed followed these instructions and carried out the crimes. However, we have yet to identify who was issuing the orders. Multiple accounts were used, and new ones were created daily to issue instructions, making it difficult to pinpoint the individuals behind them.”
The dark part-time job crimes believed to be orchestrated by Tokuryu are not limited to the series of robberies in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Copycat crimes have been uncovered across the country, including illegal salmon poaching in Hokkaido and home renovation fraud schemes nationwide. While violent crimes such as robberies have temporarily subsided, there is no guarantee that public safety will not deteriorate again.
PHOTO： Kyodo News Interview and text by： Masahiro Ojima (Nonfiction writer)
