The government is considering allowing investigators to create fake ID cards to infiltrate crime groups that solicit accomplices on social media for high-paying illegal work, known as yami baito, which has been linked to a series of nationwide burglaries, a top government spokesman said Friday.
“The government is considering new investigative measures, including allowing investigations under disguised identification,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said in a news conference. “To make sure people can live safely, and to make Japan the safest nation in the world, it is important to implement measures that can be taken as soon as possible.”
When yami baito group members recruit amateur accomplices on X or through other social media, they often ask them to send a photo of a personal ID card, such as a driver’s license, before they sign up for work. Once the crime group has the ID in hand, they can force the new recruit to follow through on the job, for example by threatening to hurt family members.
The new measures would allow investigators to sign up for shady part-time jobs with disguised identities and make contact with individuals behind the recruitment.
Under current law, investigators are not allowed to use fake IDs for investigative purposes. But criminal law also states that an act performed in accordance with laws and regulations or in the pursuit of lawful business is not punishable, and the National Police Agency is considering drafting guidelines on how fake IDs could be permissible.
Currently, investigators are allowed to conduct undercover operations for drug- and gun-related crimes.
In many Western countries, including the United States, France and Germany, undercover operations are conducted in a wide range of police investigations, according to the Justice Ministry.
On Thursday, a panel set up by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party also proposed taking similar measures against yami baito.
“Let’s make sure to protect the lives and assets of the people,” LDP veteran lawmaker Sanae Takaichi, who heads the panel, said during the meeting.
A series of burglaries linked to yami baito have occurred in recent months, mainly in the Kanto region. In each case, multiple suspects broke into homes, restrained the residents and stole money or valuables — a modus operandi that police say indicates a coordinated approach.
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