The crime of the gang-related man who stares at the press cameras… Investigators are convinced that they will be thorough, even if it is a minor offense.

The police will thoroughly investigate even the most minor charges.

The man stared at the assembled press without looking away, not even for a moment.

On February 19, he was arrested on suspicion of attempted theft.

Kato is suspected of conspiring with a fellow gang member to steal 500,000 yen in cash from an ATM in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward last July, using a bank book in another person’s name. At the time, the account had already been frozen and the cash could not be withdrawn.

Prior to his arrest, Kato had been frequenting the Inagawa-kai affiliated organization, and on February 17, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department conducted a raid on his office. In other words, this is not a lone suspect, but a possible organized crime.

Former Kanagawa Prefectural Police detective and crime journalist Taihei Ogawa explains.

The police are raiding gang offices to investigate the possibility of organized crime, but in reality it will be difficult to make a case against the head of the organization. However, in a civil case, it is possible to hold the head of the gang liable for compensation as an employer’s liability. Although this case is a “minor” offense, there is no doubt that the arrest was made as part of an investigation to crack down on gangster organizations. I think it is a sign of the company’s willingness to thoroughly investigate even minor crimes that serve as a source of funding for gangs.

Recently, there has been a sharp increase in the number of cases in which gang members have been arrested for what might be called “minor offenses.

On February 9, an unemployed Inagawa-kai gang leader, 63, and four others were arrested on suspicion of trespassing in a structure while watching a professional baseball game at the Tokyo Dome. On September 10, 2011, the four were suspected of watching a game between the Giants and Hiroshima despite a sign at the gate of the Tokyo Dome stating “No gangs or persons affiliated with gangs are allowed”. In December 2003, the Council for the Elimination of Organized Crime Groups in Professional Baseball adopted the “Declaration of Elimination of Organized Crime Groups,” which states, among other things, that gang members are not allowed in baseball stadiums.

On January 28, an appeal was filed in a court case involving a gang leader’s use of an ETC card in the name of his family, and the acquittal of the first trial was reversed and sent back to the court.

In December 2010, the gang leader, his wife, and a gang member were accused of conspiring to use the ETC card of his wife, who was not a passenger in the car, to drive twice on toll roads in Osaka Prefecture and receive a discount of 1,140 yen.

The terms and conditions of the expressway state, “Payment of tolls with an ETC card may be made only for one vehicle in which the person who is lent the card by the credit card company is a passenger, each time the toll is paid.” The first trial in January 2013 found him not guilty, but the second trial pointed out that the ETC card was also used for transportation associated with gang activities, and it was determined that this constituted misuse of the card because ‘it cannot be simply evaluated as a loan between a married couple in general’.

Mr. Ogawa explains the following in light of these cases.

Gang members are not allowed to open bank accounts or rent apartments from real estate agencies. Recently, there are more and more services, including ETC, that you cannot get on even if you pay money. Sooner or later, you won’t be able to take airplanes or bullet trains either. Gangsters are finding it tougher and tougher to make a living, let alone secure a source of funding. The weakening of the organization is expected to accelerate.”

The suspect, Kato, continued to stare at the press until the last minute and boarded a bus bound for the prosecutor’s office. According to investigators, he has remained silent in response to their inquiries.