Japan takes aim at shadowy online gangs with elite police taskforce

Japan’s National Police Agency is set to establish a special unit to combat a new form of organised crime — fluid-structure gangs that anonymously recruit short-term operatives online.

Around 200 of the country’s top investigators will be assembled for the initiative, which is due to begin operations in October, Caliber.Az reports, citing Japanese media.

These so-called “fluid gangs” are composed of temporary members. In 2024, more than 10,000 individuals were affiliated with such groups at any given time.

Around 4,000 of them were recruited via the internet to carry out one-off tasks, while others were involved in logistics, target scouting for theft and robbery, and other support roles. Hired individuals receive detailed instructions anonymously, including escape routes.

These groups were responsible for a wave of robberies, thefts, and fraudulent schemes throughout 2024.

The total financial damage has been estimated at nearly $1.4 billion.

Efforts to crack down on such gangs are hampered by the fact that their ringleaders are highly secretive and often operate from abroad.

According to the National Police Agency, these fluid-structure gangs have increasingly overshadowed Japan’s traditional yakuza organisations, which are in decline and under constant pressure from authorities.

By Aghakazim Guliyev