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Toshiya Fujita (L) and Kiyoto Imamura (R), suspected members of the "Luffy" group, which ran scams in Japan from the Philippines. Handout/File


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2 Japanese held in Manila belong to syndicate running 'Luffy'-led ring

Kyodo News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17103833174551710383315289.jpeg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Toshiya Fujita (L) and Kiyoto Imamura (R), suspected members of the " which="" ran="" scams="" in="" Japan="" from="" the="" Philippines.="" Handout=""/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Toshiya Fujita (L) and Kiyoto Imamura (R), suspected members of the &quot;Luffy&quot; group, which ran scams in Japan from the Philippines.<em> Handout/File</em></span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><style type="text/css" id="isPasted">
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</style><p>Two Japanese men currently detained in Manila are members of a criminal syndicate that organized a series of burglaries in Japan, Philippine authorities said Wednesday, adding that the &quot;Luffy&quot;-led ring was part of the syndicate.</p><p>Speaking to Kyodo News on condition of anonymity, a senior law enforcement officer who is familiar with the case said one of the men, identified as Tomohiro Koyama, is the &quot;number three&quot; man of the &quot;JP Dragon&quot; gangster syndicate, while the other one, Takayuki Kagoshima, admitted to being a member.</p><p>Koyama was one of the 10 fugitives, including an alleged ringleader Kiyoto Imamura, whom Japanese authorities requested in 2019 to be deported, the officer said. Imamura was suspected of using the pseudonym Luffy when remotely planning burglaries committed in Japan in 2022, Japanese police have said.<a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/30/23/luffy-member-arrested-in-japan-after-deportation-from-ph" id="isPasted"></a></p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/30/23/luffy-member-arrested-in-japan-after-deportation-from-ph" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">&#x27;Luffy&#x27; crime ring member arrested for ordering Japan robberies from PH</a></div><p>Koyama, 49, was nabbed by Philippine police on Jan. 24 for a local fraud case, while Kagoshima, 55, was apprehended by immigration operatives on March 4 based on a warrant for theft issued by a court in Japan&#x27;s Fukuoka Prefecture, the officer said. Both are presently detained at a Philippine immigration detention facility.<a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/03/23/4-japanese-arrested-in-ph-possibly-involved-in-scams-worth-6-b-yen-police" id="isPasted"></a></p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/03/23/4-japanese-arrested-in-ph-possibly-involved-in-scams-worth-6-b-yen-police" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">4 Japanese arrested in PH possibly involved in scams worth 6-B yen: police</a></div><p>The officer said the discovery of the existence of JP Dragon and the group led by Luffy stemmed from the arrest of more than 30 Japanese nationals in November 2019 for running a telecom fraud scheme from the Philippines&#x27; financial district Makati.</p><p>The syndicate&#x27;s operation is believed to have started a year before that, with a Japanese man, who has established such businesses as online gambling, cockfighting and karaoke bars in the Philippine capital, serving as its leader.<a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/22/24/philippines-says-it-has-learned-lessons-from-luffy-crime-ring-case" id="isPasted"></a></p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/22/24/philippines-says-it-has-learned-lessons-from-luffy-crime-ring-case" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Philippines says it has learned lessons from &#x27;Luffy&#x27; crime ring case</a></div><p>&quot;After several arrests, deportations and investigation(s) in Japan, that&#x27;s (when the name) &#x27;JP Dragon&#x27; syndicate came up,&quot; the officer said, adding that based on information from Japanese authorities, investigators found out the Luffy ring has links with it.</p><p>&quot;After the investigation in Japan, we discovered that JP Dragon is the one running&quot; the Luffy group, the officer said. The leader of the JP Dragon, however, remains at large.</p><p>The Luffy group was believed to have coordinated the crimes in Japan from the Philippine immigration detention facility via an encrypted messaging app through which they offered high-paid jobs to people in Japan to engage in the criminal activities.<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jobL_Xb3M9U" id="isPasted"></a></p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jobL_Xb3M9U?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>Imamura and three others have been indicted for some of the burglary cases in December following their deportation from the Philippines in February last year.</p><div><strong>==Kyodo</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div>

<p>Two Japanese men currently detained in Manila are members of a criminal syndicate that organized a series of burglaries in Japan, Philippine authorities said Wednesday, adding that the "Luffy"-led ring was part of the syndicate.</p>

Two Japanese men currently detained in Manila are members of a criminal syndicate that organized a series of burglaries in Japan, Philippine authorities said Wednesday, adding that the "Luffy"-led ring was part of the syndicate.