Tokyo police arrested an assistant inspector who is believed to have been a “mole” for Natural, one of Japan’s largest “scouting” groups for sex workers and the subject of an elaborate criminal investigation.
The Metropolitan Police Department on Nov. 12 said the suspect, Daisuke Jinbo, 43, of the Organized Crime Control Bureau, was the officer in charge of the investigation into Natural.
Suspected of breaching confidentiality under the Local Public Service Law, Jinbo’s apparent tipoffs to Natural may have helped a key suspect avoid arrest.
Investigative sources confirmed that police found 9 million yen ($58,200) in cash in Jinbo’s home.
Natural is considered a “tokuryu,” or an anonymous and fluid criminal group. It was under investigation over a brawl with another syndicate and suspicions that women were being victimized by the scouts’ actions.
“At a time when police forces nationwide are working together to tackle organized crime, this is an outrageous act by a police officer who was engaged in that very investigation, and it is extremely regrettable,” the MPD said in a statement. “We have profoundly betrayed the trust of the citizens of Tokyo and the nation, and we sincerely apologize.”
‘SPY ON THE INSIDE’
According to the MPD, Jinbo sent images on two separate occasions between late April and early May that showed how a location connected to a Natural member appeared on a surveillance camera.
The transmissions were made using a proprietary smartphone app developed by Natural, investigative sources said.
During a search of Jinbo’s home in the capital’s Itabashi Ward in August, the MPD discovered and seized the 9 million yen.
The sources said police found no indications that the suspect had withdrawn large sums from his accounts at banks or other financial institutions.
The MPD is investigating how he obtained the money and its purpose.
Police had suspected a mole was in their midst after the decision was made to arrest members of Natural in late January this year.
As MPD investigators were conducting “surveillance,” one of the Natural targets vanished just days before the planned arrests.
“There is definitely a spy on the inside,” an MPD investigator lamented at the time. “The information was leaked.”
Belief that a tipoff allowed the Natural member to escape grew within the team, prompting the MPD to secretly start an internal investigation.
Police officers and others were questioned, and inquiry culminated in Jinbo’s arrest on Nov. 12.
“Amid nationwide police efforts to combat tokuryu crime groups, the arrest of an active-duty police officer for leaking investigative information severely undermines public trust and is utterly unacceptable,” National Police Agency Commissioner-General Yoshinobu Kusunoki said at a Nov. 13 news conference.
He apologized to the public and pledged to thoroughly implement measures to prevent a recurrence.
VIOLENT, SECRETIVE, WEALTHY
Natural has at least 1,500 active members in entertainment districts across the country, investigators said.
The MPD estimates that in 2022 alone, the group gained about 4.45 billion yen from referral fees paid by adult entertainment establishments.
Members are said to be recruited through social media and word-of-mouth. The loose connections and anonymous nature of the group have led to headaches among investigators.
Natural came under the MPD’s radar in June 2020, when a video went viral on Twitter showing a large group of men surrounding, punching and kicking someone in Tokyo’s Kabukicho district.
According to investigative sources, the MPD suspected the attack stemmed from a dispute between Natural and an organization affiliated with yakuza crime syndicate Sumiyoshi-kai over the poaching of street scouts.
In the proprietary app that Natural spent tens of millions of yen to develop, police were referred to as “the virus,” and the faces of officers were shared among members.
In December 2022, the MPD formed an investigative team within its Organized Crime Control Bureau to crack down on Natural. Jinbo was a member of the team.
A cross-departmental investigation team was also set up that included units overseeing adult entertainment businesses.
Jinbo was hired by the MPD in 2004 and has been involved in organized crime investigations for about 14 years.
He joined the current Organized Crime Control Bureau in December 2020 and was in charge of the Natural investigation from around 2023 until this spring.
‘HUNTER BECOMES HUNTED’
According to a senior MPD official, Jinbo was on the front lines of the investigation.
Upon his arrest, the official said emphatically: “It is just sad. He crossed a line that should never be crossed. Did he forget the reason he became a detective in the first place?”
Another senior police official said, “If the allegations are true, then the hunter has become the hunted. It is an unforgivable act of betrayal.”
Another investigator said Jimbo was his colleague. “I investigated with him. It’s unbelievable.”
About 10 months have passed since the Natural member disappeared before his arrest. His whereabouts are still unknown.
(This article was compiled from reports written by Arata Mitsui, Noriki Nishioka, and senior staff writer Shimpachi Yoshida.)
AloJapan.com