Photo/Illutration National Police Agency Commissioner General Yasuhiro Tsuyuki at a news conference on Dec. 5 (Daichi Itakura)

The National Police Agency is considering using undercover officers to infiltrate gangs of violent robbers who have been hired for “yami baito” (dark part-time jobs) on social media sites, sources said.

Many suspects arrested over a series of robberies and home invasions in the Tokyo metropolitan area have said they were duped or intimidated into committing the crimes by anonymous leaders who issued orders behind the scenes.

The NPA hopes to identify the ringleaders by having investigators apply for such “jobs.”

Since the suspects said they were hired only after they sent photos of their IDs through a highly confidential communication app, fake identification papers will be prepared for the undercover officers, the sources said.

Although falsifying IDs is illegal, a Penal Code provision on the matter states that “acts committed under the law or in the course of legitimate duties shall not be punished.”

In addition, the NPA’s operation to take down the yami baito groups will fall under a new legal category called “disguised identity investigations,” proposed by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

The LDP’s Research Commission on Public Safety and Counter-Terrorism, chaired by Sanae Takaichi, compiled a draft of emergency countermeasures against yami baito crimes on Dec. 5.

The draft asserts that “disguised identity investigations” should be positioned as legitimate acts under the Penal Code.

The draft also includes a request to social networking service operators to delete postings that solicit applicants for yami baito. It also asks operators to ensure that work recruiters provide their names, addresses and the nature of the jobs offered.

The research commission will soon submit the proposal to the prime minister’s office.

The spate of robberies in the Tokyo area since autumn has resulted in at least one death and several injuries among the victims.

Some of the suspects said they had assumed they were hired for legitimate work, and that they feared retaliation for disobeying orders to commit the crimes since the ringleaders had their real identities and other personal information.

NPA Commissioner General Yasuhiro Tsuyuki said at a news conference on Dec. 5 that police protection has been offered nationwide to 125 people who applied for yami baito in the month and a half to the end of November.

“The police will protect them well,” Tsuyuki said, urging others to consult with authorities.

The NPA began offering the protection on Oct. 18 through the X platform and other means.

About 40 percent of the applicants for yami baito were in their 20s, and 30 percent were in their teens, Tsuyuki said. About 10 percent each were in their 30s, 40s and 50s or older.

Tsuyuki said the younger hires were mainly instructed to carry out the robberies and commit other crimes, such as transporting luggage filled with stolen goods.

On the other hand, many of the middle-aged and older hires were instructed to commit “acts related to offering the means of committing the crime,” such as providing bank accounts and cellphones, Tsuyuki said.

(This article was written by Daichi Itakura and Taishi Sasayama.)

Related News