NEWSWORTHY
Japan's gang members are running out of places to hide
Membership in organized crime syndicates has been decreasing about 10 percent each year since 2011, according to National Police Agency statistics. The reasons for the decline in membership are complex but we should give credit to the police for using every means at their disposal ...
Police can use wiretapping devices to decrypt and record at prefectural HQs across Japan from June
The National Police Agency revised wiretapping regulations Thursday, enabling investigators from June 1 to listen in on phone conversations while at headquarters of prefectural police departments without the presence of officials from telecommunications carriers. Under previous rules, investigators had been conducting such operations at telecom ...
15 Japanese arrested in Thailand raid accused of scamming more than ¥225 million
A group of 15 suspected Japanese scammers arrested last week in Thailand acquired more than ¥225 million ($2 million) in illegal proceeds in February and March alone, Thai police and other sources said Tuesday. Records seized in a March 30 police raid on a rented ...
A Hokkaido court convicted a man Thursday of possessing stimulant drugs, but ruled some of the evidence gathered by police using GPS data without a warrant was inadmissible. The Asahikawa District Court sentenced Masayuki Tanikawa, 46, a former gangster, to six years in prison and ...
House intel panel hires veteran prosecutor who went after Russia mob to lead Trump probe
The U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee said on Tuesday it has hired a former federal prosecutor in Manhattan with experience investigating Russian mobsters and white-collar crime to lead its probe into the Trump administration. The hiring of Daniel Goldman is the latest move by ...
Family ties thwart Cambodia's efforts to tackle bride trafficking to China
Although a rising number of Cambodian women are being sold as brides in China, complaints and convictions are on the decline, with many victims refusing to speak out because their families are colluding with trafficking rings, a regional police chief says. Thousands of Cambodian women ...
Damages from 'it's me' and other petty fraud scams in Japan down for fourth straight year
Victims who were age 65 or older stood at 78.0 percent, underscoring the need to focus on senior citizens in taking preventive measures.
Meth 'disaster' for Asia-Pacific region as seizures surge tenfold in Thailand
Seizures of high-purity crystal methamphetamine have surged more than tenfold in Thailand over the past two years, statistics show, a stark indicator of the growth in industrial-scale production of the stimulant in neighboring Myanmar. Thailand is a major trafficking route for crystal meth manufactured in ...
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador declared the country's war on drugs over Wednesday, saying his government would no longer prioritize using the army to capture cartel kingpins. However, critics questioned the announcement, pointing out that the leftist president has not taken the army off ...
Police raid yakuza office in Tokyo after deadly shooting in Kabukicho karaoke box
Police on Wednesday raided the Tokyo office of a yakuza group associated with a man wanted in connection with a murder earlier this month in Shinjuku Ward. Masaru Abe, 56, a member of a group under the Sumiyoshikai crime syndicate, is wanted in connection with ...
Japan-U.S. law enforcement fingerprint data-sharing pact kicks off, raising privacy concerns
Earlier this month, Japan and the United States began sharing fingerprint data among their law enforcement agencies under a bilateral agreement. The little-known agreement, negotiated in 2014 by the administrations of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and then-U.S. President Barack Obama, is intended to strengthen cooperation ...
Nigeria on verge of becoming next narcostate as it morphs from shipper to producer
In the early hours of a humid November morning, a 16-car convoy rolled into the southeast Nigerian village of Obinugwu and stopped outside the iron gates of a nondescript house. More than 50 drug enforcement officials crept through the compound and surrounded the methamphetamine lab ...
