<figure id="attachment_470163" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-470163" style="width: 1765px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="5f4945d0"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/06/a147c56ac53d7c0d1e7d378f69e870f5.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-470163" class="wp-caption-text">Shadow of the book &#8220;Luffy in the Cage&#8221; to be released on June 24 (written by Shimei Kurita, Kodansha)</figcaption></figure>
<h2> A death threat from &#8220;Luffy</h2>
<p> The &#8220;Luffy Group&#8221; shook the Japanese archipelago by causing special frauds and widespread robberies using &#8220;black jobs. They later spawned a large number of copycats and became the origin of the &#8220;anonymous and fluid crime group (Tokuryu),&#8221; leaving an indelible mark on Japanese criminal history.</p>
<p> Based on exclusive interviews with the top executives of this rare criminal organization, a nonfiction book, &#8220;Cage no Naka no Rufi: Yami Baito wo Sono Hito-tachi&#8221; (Rufi in the Cage: Those Who Gave Birth to the Dark Bite), written by Shimei Kurita and published by Kodansha, will be released on June 24, 2012. How did a special fraud organization based in the Philippines and other countries transform into a ferocious gang of wide-area robbers? The following is an excerpt and re-edited version of &#8220;Luffy in the Cage.</p>
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<p><a href="https://amzn.asia/d/04UejzCh"> Click here to pre-order &#8220;Luffy in the Cage: Those Who Gave Birth to the Dark Bite!&#8221;</a></p>
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<p> There is a time lag between the date and time when the executives of the so-called &#8220;Luffy Group&#8221; were imprisoned in the Philippine Bicutan Camp (where the widespread robbery took place). Imamura (Mato, hereafter omitted from the defendant&#8217;s notation), who called himself &#8220;Rufi,&#8221; was imprisoned at the end of &#8217;19, and Fujita (Seiya) was imprisoned in April of &#8217;21. Masaki Watanabe and Tomonobu Kojima were arrested in November of 2009. The numerous reports of &#8220;ruffian wide-area robberies&#8221; have given the impression of a criminal group headed by Imamura. However, when we interviewed the camps, we found that the case was based on a complex interchange of human relationships.</p>
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<p> The Bicutan Internment Camp is located in Taguig City, a 40-minute drive from central Manila. It is a facility for the internment of foreign detainees, and the detainees range from violent criminals to those who have overstayed. It is under the jurisdiction of the Immigration Bureau.</p>
<p> Not all of the detainees at Bicutan are violent criminals. However, once inside, they are treated the same. Since there is constant fighting between countries, the detainees naturally tend to gather together with people from the same country. In the case of the Japanese, a man called &#8220;Sato&#8221; was the organizer. Satou was also the person who had the right to a private, air-conditioned room (VIP room). This room was later used by Imamura as well, and is called the &#8220;Kiyotoreum.</p>
<p> When Fujita was housed in the vicutan, there was a familiar face there.&#8217; They were the 18 kakeko of the Watanabe Group (a special fraud organization headed by Watanabe) who were detained at the West Makati Hotel in the Philippines in November 19. Imamura and JP Dragon (a Japanese crime syndicate based in the Philippines. One of the executives of JP Dragon (a Japanese criminal organization based in the Philippines, which had an adversarial relationship with Watanabe&#8217;s fraud group), a man who called himself &#8220;Itai,&#8221; was also present.</p>
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<p> According to Kojima&#8217;s testimony, Imamura began assisting JP Dragon&#8217;s work after he was detained in Bicutan at the end of &#8217;19. Watanabe and others were also aware that <span class="strongInContent">&#8220;Imamura joined JP Dragon</span> &#8221; at the same time.</p>
<p> Later in the prosecution&#8217;s evidence, it was clearly stated that the Watanabe group and the group to which Imamura belonged were originally separate. To borrow an expression from the trial, they were &#8220;separate companies. The two groups, which later joined together as the &#8220;Rufy Group,&#8221; were adversaries at this point. Fujita was a target for JP Dragon, which had previously had its own business interests crushed by the Watanabe Group. Fujita described the situation at the time at the trial: &#8220;I arrived [at Bicutan].</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> On the day I arrived in Bicutan, Mr. Satou and Mr. Imamura almost killed me. Itai,&#8217; who was originally in the same fraud organization but switched sides to JP Dragon, was a dog and a monkey with me. I heard that he planned to take my money and kill me.&#8221;</span></p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" The first widespread robbery"></div>
<figure id="attachment_436925" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-436925" style="width: 1788px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="b2b02ccd"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/08/1b5011fcce2e1ed626977eb3a72d18ed.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-436925" class="wp-caption-text">Kojima arrived at Haneda Airport in Japan after being deported from the Philippines in February &#8217;23. He is the top executive of the &#8220;Rufi Group,&#8221; who gave an exclusive interview to Mr. Kurita.</figcaption></figure>
<h2> He&#8217;s like the devil.&#8221;</h2>
<p> In 2010, the situation within Bicutan began to change. Japanese detainees, including 18 former Kakeko of the Watanabe Group, were deported. Due to financial troubles, a rift was beginning to develop between Satow, the head of the Japanese group, and Imamura. Due to this rift, Imamura grew closer to Watanabe.</p>
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<p> Imamura has been plotting robberies in Japan since at least early &#8217;22, recruiting black market workers on social networking sites and communicating with the perpetrators using a Telegram account calling himself &#8220;Luffy&#8221;. At this time, the Watanabe group was not yet aware of Imamura&#8217;s robberies.</p>
<p> In March 2010, an incident occurred that could be considered a &#8220;precursor&#8221; to a widespread robbery. Three men attempted to break into a pawnshop in Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture, by breaking the glass door at the entrance in order to steal money and goods. At that time, Imamura sent the following message to the perpetrators from an account in the name of Rufi: &#8220;Nice to meet you!</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Nice to meet you!　I contacted you about a job!&#8221;</span></p>
<p> In response to Imamura&#8217;s message, the male executor <span class="strongInContent">asked, &#8220;What position do you hold, Mr. Luffy?&#8221;</span> to which Imamura replies.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I am the top.&#8221;</span></p>
<p> Then, in May of 2010. On May 2, two men and a woman attacked a jewelry store in Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto. They smashed the showcase with a hammer, took 41 wristwatches, including a Rolex, and fled. The damage amounted to approximately 69 million yen.</p>
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<p> The reason why this case attracted attention was because of what happened afterwards. The following is a quotation from an article in the &#8220;Yomiuri Shimbun Online&#8221; on July 19, 2011, titled &#8220;Kyoto robbery under &#8216;Luffy&#8217;s&#8217; direction; 10 black market workers get no reward&#8230;end members not taken seriously.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> In a series of robberies committed by &#8220;Luffy&#8221; and others, 10 out of the 12 executors allegedly involved in the Kyoto City robbery last May did not receive remuneration in response to a &#8220;dark job&#8221; solicitation on a social networking service, according to an interview with investigators. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department believes that the instructor, Imamura Mato (39) (re-arrested on suspicion of robbery), arranged for the end members not to receive any remuneration. (omitted).</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> According to investigators, after the incident, an unemployed man, 21, was instructed to hand over the damaged wristwatch to another &#8220;collector,&#8221; and he and a &#8220;carrier&#8221; drove to the Suita Service Area (SA) on the Meishin Expressway in Suita City, Osaka Prefecture, where they were joined by another &#8220;collector,&#8221; but they were attacked in the SA&#8217;s restroom by an unknown person. In the restroom of the SA, he was attacked by someone and robbed of his backpack containing his wristwatch.</span></p>
<p> This means that another person under Imamura&#8217;s command &#8220;attacked&#8221; the robber who had planned and ordered the robbery. The attacker was a person who called himself &#8220;Sanji. At the time of the incident, Imamura telegraphed to the executants who were attacked by &#8220;Sanji&#8221; that he <span class="strongInContent">could not offer a reward because his watch had been taken</span>.</p>
<p> The intent of this plan is clear. Imamura wanted to increase his own share. Watanabe later told us when he learned of the incident: &#8220;This is outrageous.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> It&#8217;s outrageous. Kiyoto is like the devil.</span></p>
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<p> In the next article <a href="https://friday.kodansha.co.jp/article/470174">, &#8220;Obtaining Information on the Robbery Destination from a &#8216;Mysterious Source&#8217;&#8230;The Complete Inside Story of the Ralphie Robbery</a> That Shook the Japanese Archipelago,&#8221; we will take a closer look at the inside story of the widespread robbery that rocked the Japanese archipelago.</p>
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 Shinji Hasuo

 The Luffy Group shook up the Japanese archipelago with a wide-area robbery by a "black market job. The following is an excerpt from the new book, "Luffy in the Cage: The Creators of YAKUBYTE," to be released on June 24.

He&#8217;s like the devil&#8230;&#8221; Even the top executives of the Luffy Group were surprised by the &#8220;betrayal of their people&#8221; in the widespread robbery

He’s like the devil…” Even the top executives of the Luffy Group were surprised by the “betrayal of their people” in the widespread robbery

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