<figure id="attachment_462867" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-462867" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="074eb2ff"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/03/4bc5408c0c7f2922bb5b4535f121bc43.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-462867" class="wp-caption-text">A mini-van abandoned near the scene of the 400 million yen Ueno incident. He also committed a hit-and-run before switching to a minivan.</figcaption></figure>
<p> Fumitaka Obinamaki, 52, a former police lieutenant with the Metropolitan Police Department, joined the agency in &#8217;93. Until his retirement in 2011, he spent most of his 30-year career as an international investigator working against drugs and organized crime. Following last week&#8217;s &#8220;Entertainers&#8221; issue, we asked him about the fight against illegal drug smuggling and other black market organizations.</p>
<p> He said that he has been cooperating with investigative agencies in Hong Kong and other countries in the investigation of illegal drug smuggling that is spreading in Japan. The conversation then turned to the investigation of foreign spies operating in Japan.</p>
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<p><a href="https://friday.kodansha.co.jp/article/462858" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Click here for the first part of the story about the horror of illegal drugs spreading to Japan&#8217;s elite class.</a></p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> With a gun I&#8217;ve never seen before,&#8221; he said, tilting his head.</span></p>
<p> I explained to him that it was an automatic rifle born in Russia and used all over the world. &#8220;The magazine is bent like a banana,&#8221; he said, &#8220;that&#8217;s why they call it a banana magazine.</p>
<h2> We went up and down many times.</h2>
<p> At the time, it was said that &#8220;North Korea smuggled drugs into Japan on a suspicious ship and carried abducted Japanese back to Japan in the space available.</p>
<p> Japan is said to be a &#8220;spy paradise,&#8221; and indeed there were North Korean spies infiltrating the country and making contact with Japanese yakuza. They were probably doing the math for smuggling drugs. They were making special moves to disperse us.</p>
<p> For example, we would enter a department store in Ginza and get on an elevator. Then, without getting on and getting off, he would repeatedly ascend and descend. In this way, we would check for people who were following us.</p>
<p> We know their movements, so when the target gets on the elevator, we do not pursue them, but go outside and seize the entrance and exit. We also requested the cooperation of the security guards at the department store.</p>
<p> We can&#8217;t tell them that he is a spy, so we tell them to contact us if they find him, saying, &#8220;This man is a habitual shoplifter. In this way, we would make sure the spy returned to North Korea via China. We could not arrest him because there was no corresponding law, but we were both confirming and capturing his behavior.</p>
<p> Upon hearing the news of the 400 million yen robbery that took place in Ueno, Tokyo, in January of this year, Kobujimaki said he had a hunch that a Japanese-Hong Kong criminal organization was involved.</p>
<p> The rationale was that the car used for the getaway was in the name of a family member of a gang member. A man who was attacked by someone at Haneda Airport three hours later was attacked again on the same day he crossed into Hong Kong and robbed of a large sum of money, and was arrested the day after the incident along with a group of criminals. &#8230;&#8230;</p>
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<p> While there are investigative agencies overseas that have the authority to detain a person before a suspect has been established, called &#8220;preventive detention,&#8221; the Hong Kong authorities do not have the authority to do so. Nevertheless, the speedy arrest was achieved. What this means is the &#8220;existence of an informant.</p>
<p> The men who were robbed of 400 million yen in Ueno said that they planned to go to Hong Kong to buy money. It is likely that someone leaked the date and time of the huge sum of money being taken to Hong Kong to the Japanese mobsters and the Hong Kong police.</p>
<p> Hong Kong is home to two of the world&#8217;s largest criminal organizations, &#8220;14K&#8221; and &#8220;Sinyuan. The Hong Kong Mafia is well known for the &#8220;San Hui Kai,&#8221; which is like a coalition team created by &#8220;14K&#8221; and &#8220;Hsin Yi-An&#8221; to keep their organization&#8217;s name out of the public eye. When we hear the name &#8220;Hong Kong,&#8221; we are on the lookout for international crime.</p>
<p> This time, all that is being reported is a scheme to make money from the sales tax by buying and selling gold in a series of transactions. That is the question. I believe it is the proceeds of crime obtained through special fraud.</p>
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<p> The proceeds of crime are used to purchase gold, and the original source of the gold is lost through repeated sales and purchases. This is a typical method of money laundering. You see a scene in a movie where a mafia manages a restaurant. The idea is the same. By making the proceeds of crime into restaurant sales and paying proper taxes, they make it difficult to see what the original money was.</p>
<p> In mid-March, seven gang members and others were arrested over the 400 million yen Ueno incident. In fact, I see the possibility that someone associated with a Japanese semi-gangster organization may have painted the picture in this case. The man is also associated with the gang and has already left the country.</p>
<p> I asked S., who is very strong in China and Hong Kong, and he did not respond. It would be interesting to &#8230;&#8230; since they say &#8220;silence is yes.&#8221;</p>
<p><a href="#" data-ident_hash="043a6ad8"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/03/bc7ba37f55b0eff00c08a7a4e7e22b22.jpg" alt=""></a></p>
<p> In September &#8217;02, a North Korean craft was salvaged off Amami-Oshima Island. It was sunk after a shootout with a Japan Coast Guard patrol boat.</p>
<figure id="attachment_462863" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-462863" style="width: 1593px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="aa2f6d7f"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/03/5d11cdb9c9a716df3a874ac0c86c0ba1.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-462863" class="wp-caption-text"> Mr. Koburamaki at the end of his career as a police officer, when he was working at the Shinagawa Police Station. He became a long-sought-after patrol car crew member in the Regional Division.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_462861" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-462861" style="width: 1676px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="2dd8613a"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/03/24eca156a0c7423d0adae3a2ba0d53b0-1.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-462861" class="wp-caption-text"> Fumitaka Kohiruimaki/&#8217;73, born in Aomori. Joined the Metropolitan Police Department in 1993, and until his retirement in 2011, he was engaged in investigations of major cases as a specialist in organized crime, international crime, and countermeasures against drugs and firearms. He is an international investigator who speaks Mandarin Chinese. Currently works as a security strategy analyst.</figcaption></figure>
<p> From the April 10, 2026 issue of FRIDAY</p>


 Kyodo News Images (1st and 2nd images)

 Fumitaka Obirimaki, 52, a former assistant inspector of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, shared details of his own experiences in investigating foreign spies operating in Japan and his defense against gangs and foreign mafias.

A former police lieutenant of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department confesses his real name and face! The true meaning of the &#8220;bizarre act committed by a North Korean spy&#8221; at a department store in Ginza.

A former police lieutenant of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department confesses his real name and face! The true meaning of the “bizarre act committed by a North Korean spy” at a department store in Ginza.

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