A group of 36 Japanese men have been detained in Manila over an alleged phone scam targeting people in Japan, Philippine immigration sources said Thursday. Based on information from Japanese investigative authorities, the immigration bureau detained the men at a hotel in Manila on Wednesday ...
American family may have been 'bait' in Mexican cartel fight
The nine American women and children killed in northern Mexico were victims of a territorial dispute between an arm of the Sinaloa Cartel and a rival gang, officials said on Wednesday, and may have been used to lure one side into a firefight. Members of ...
It's illegal to pay gangs ... but that's not the point
A set of revised organized crime ordinances went into effect on Oct. 1 in Roppongi, Kabukicho, Shibuya and 26 other designated special districts in Tokyo. Under the law, any individual or group in these districts who pays protection money to anti-social forces — crime syndicates, ...
Fine for poaching glass eels to be raised to ¥30 million in 2023, Fisheries Agency says
The Fisheries Agency plans to raise the maximum fine for illegal fishing of baby Japanese eels, or glass eels, from ¥100,000 to ¥30 million starting in 2023, in a bid to stem a source of funding of organized crime syndicates, agency sources said Wednesday. The ...
In wake of drug cartel's street violence, Mexico and U.S. aim to freeze flow of guns from America
Mexico's foreign minister said on Saturday that President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and U.S. President Donald Trump had agreed to take swift action to stem the flow of illegal weapons from the United States into Mexico. Lopez Obrador told Trump on a phone call "I ...
New generation of quasi-gangsters fly under police radar
Mainstream media last month broke a long-standing silence they've had concerning the activities of Japan's organized crime groups, which are referred to in official circles as "boryokudan" (violent groups) or, colloquially, as "yakuza." The Mainichi Shimbun (Sept. 15) reported that Kobe's Municipal Board of Education ...
Fish illegally caught by yakuza sold at Nagasaki sashimi eatery
A restaurant in the city of Nagasaki sold discount sashimi rice bowls using fish caught by an organized crime group's illegal poaching operation, local police said Tuesday. The eatery in front of Nagasaki Station, which recently shut down, was popular among tourists and workers for ...
Nearly 5,000 bodies have been found in more than 3,000 unmarked graves since Mexico deployed the army to fight drug trafficking in 2006, the government said Friday in its first comprehensive report on the carnage. Mexico has been hit by a wave of violence since ...
Malaysia makes record bust of ketamine and cocaine worth $161 million
Malaysian authorities on Friday said they had seized nearly 3.7 tons of ketamine and cocaine worth about $161 million in the country's biggest drugs haul to date. Malaysia is a key transit point for illegal narcotics, with authorities seizing record amounts of crystal methamphetamine in ...
Man linked to Yamaguchi-gumi shot in Kobe in apparent yakuza feud
A man affiliated with the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's largest crime syndicate, was shot Wednesday in Kobe, apparently in connection with a feud among factions of the group in the city and surrounding areas, police said. The man, believed to be around 50 years old, was seriously ...
Young Central Americans seeking asylum in U.S. easy prey for MS13 gang
Young Central American asylum-seekers fleeing violence and poverty in their home countries are increasingly falling prey to the notorious MS13 gang in the United States, authorities say. The youngsters, most of them from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, are proving to be easy targets for ...
Five things to know about the scandal enveloping top Japanese comedy agency Yoshimoto Kogyo
From one channel to the next, almost every comedy and variety show on Japanese TV features personalities from entertainment powerhouse Yoshimoto Kogyo Co. But recently the company has been rocked by a scandal involving high-profile comedians that is no laughing matter. What began last month ...
