TOKYO, Nov 14 (News On Japan) - A senior Tokyo Metropolitan Police officer has been arrested on suspicion of leaking confidential investigation data to members of a decentralized criminal network known as “Tokuryu.”
The suspect, 43-year-old Assistant Inspector Daisuke Jimbo of the Anti-Organized Crime Division, was taken into custody after internal investigators found evidence that he had shared surveillance footage and other materials with individuals linked to the group.
Jimbo, who previously led investigations into “Natural,” Japan’s largest scout-based organization accused of illegal recruitment and human trafficking, is alleged to have passed information to its members. According to police sources, internal monitoring of Jimbo began around April or May this year following signs of an information leak.
Fuji TV’s Metropolitan Police Bureau correspondent Takashi Yamashita reported that suspicions first surfaced earlier in the year when “Natural” members scheduled for arrest in January suddenly disappeared just before the operation began. “Investigators were furious, saying, ‘It’s impossible for them to flee at such timing—someone inside must be leaking information,’” Yamashita recalled. The direct link between that incident and Jimbo has not yet been established.
Police sources said Jimbo allegedly used a specialized application employed by “Natural” members to transmit images from cameras installed for surveillance purposes. While investigators have not confirmed whether the same app was used, footage aired in Fuji TV’s September edition of “Spotlight” showed “Natural” members demonstrating an internal communication app called “Chat Alpha,” designed to appear like a news application. The app, reportedly developed by “Natural” itself, is mandatory on all members’ smartphones and serves as a channel for sharing operational updates and escape tactics.
One active member interviewed during the program explained, “We share how to avoid arrest and what to do if detained. It’s like directives from management.” Fuji TV’s investigation further revealed that the app contained advance warnings of police raids, including one stating, “We received leaked information that Chiba police will raid 4–5 shops on July 13th or 14th.” Chiba Prefectural Police did, in fact, conduct raids on those dates and arrested several individuals, although the department declined to comment on whether the leak originated from inside law enforcement, saying, “We are not aware of such posts or testimony.”
The arrest of a serving police officer has sent shockwaves through the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, which only last month reorganized its structure and created a new “Special Investigation Division” dedicated to cracking down on Tokuryu networks. “It’s nothing short of betrayal,” said one senior officer. “It’s an act that has deeply disappointed every investigator.”
Reporter Yamashita noted, “This case shows how the very people tasked with dismantling Tokuryu were instead being manipulated by them. The incident underscores the urgent need for stricter information security within the police force.”
Source: FNN
