The Philippines’ Bureau of Immigration has detained Ryuji Yoshioka, 55, the suspected leader of the “JP Dragon” crime ring based in the Southeast Asian country, investigative sources said Friday.
The criminal organization, which includes former Japanese gang members, allegedly worked with another Philippines-based fraud group led by Kiyoto Imamura, 41.
Imamura, who is suspected of instructing perpetrators in robbery cases in Japan and often called himself “Luffy,” has been charged with robbery resulting in death.
According to the investigative sources, Yoshioka was taken into custody on the northwestern Philippine island of Luzon on Wednesday.
The Fukuoka Prefectural Police obtained a warrant to arrest him on suspicion of theft over his alleged involvement in a fraud case in which a cash card was stolen from a Japanese national in June 2023 after a call in which a swindler pretended to be a police officer.
In 2024, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department arrested a senior member of JP Dragon. Seven other members of the group, under arrest warrants obtained by the Fukuoka police, were detained by the Philippine immigration authorities last month.
Japanese police plan to ask the Philippines to extradite them.
