NCJ Number
101284
Date Published
1986
Length
26 pages
Annotation
This chapter reviews types of Japanese organized criminal groups, their structure and activities, obstacles to countering them, and police strategies against them.
Abstract
Japanese criminal organizations are typically composed of professional criminals known as yakuza. Their origins extend to the seventh century. The common traditional features of all such groups are distinctive group structure, behavior patterns, codes, value orientations, and their own jargon. Police statistics for 1980 report 2,487 organized crime groups with a membership of 103,955. Types of groups are gambling syndicates, drug syndicates, and groups providing product and service is power and violence. The groups are headed by single leaders who receive absolute obedience from gang members. Gangs sometimes establish mutually beneficial alliances with one another. Police statistics indicate that yakuza crimes are, in order of frequency, drug offenses, bodily injury, gambling, assault, and extortion. Yakuza crimes are difficult to counter because of their intimidation of victims, members' willingness to protect organizational heads, and yakuza skills in evading the law. Police strategy has involved the repeated arrest of gang members, the interdiction of gang resources and funds, and international cooperation to prevent smuggling. Tabular data and 8 references.