Leader of sex worker scouting syndicate arrested in Japan after a year-long manhunt
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TOKYO – Tokyo police have arrested the leader of a criminal sex worker recruitment syndicate on an island over 1,000km from the Japanese capital, ending a manhunt that lasted about a year.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police said they arrested 40-year-old Hiroaki Obata on Amami-Oshima Island in the south-western prefecture of Kagoshima on Jan 27. Police allege he illegally paid a yakuza gang member for access to operate in an area of Tokyo.
Police dispatched officers to Amami when they received a tip on Jan 23 that a person resembling Obata was spotted. Obata had been placed on a public wanted list just two days earlier.
With more than 1,500 members, the scouting group is believed to have raked in 4.45 billion yen (S$36.6 million) in 2022 by introducing women to adult entertainment establishments nationwide.
Police have labelled it a loosely organised crime group that uses social media and other platforms to operate anonymously, alleging that some of the revenue it generated was redirected to yakuza groups. KYODO NEWS
