Osaka police aren’t messing around when it comes to following the money from special fraud schemes.
On July 29, officers from the Osaka Prefectural Police rolled up to an office in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, tied to a direct affiliate of the Sixth Yamaguchi-gumi. The raid was part of a bigger investigation into whether organized crime groups have been collecting proceeds from special fraud — those sophisticated phone and online scams that have been hitting people hard across Japan.
A 51-year-old gang member had already been arrested on suspicion of violating the Organized Crime Punishment Act, which kicked off this particular search.
What stood out was how the entry played out. Officers arrived, started pounding on the door, and kept calling for whoever was inside to open up. “Open up, quickly,” they shouted. Minutes went by with zero response. They kept knocking and eventually warned that they were about to force their way in.
Around five minutes after they first started demanding entry, someone finally came out. Investigators then went inside and carried out the search.
Later that afternoon, a little after 4 p.m., officers were seen leaving the place carrying boxes and bags of seized materials. Police are still digging into how the fraud money was allegedly flowing and what role the syndicate may have played.
It’s another reminder that even as the big yakuza groups try to keep a lower profile these days, the authorities are still willing to show up at the door, literally, when the trail from special fraud leads in their direction.
