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The story
On the 7th, Hiroshima Prefectural Police re-arrested construction company president Riho Maehara (32) and former company executive Yuka Matsumoto (30) on suspicion of attempted kidnapping for transport abroad, among other charges. The pair allegedly approached a job applicant they had rejected at a hiring interview with the pitch “there’s a job that pays well,” referred the person to a Tokuryu (an anonymous, fluid criminal network) group, and attempted to transport them to Southeast Asia. Maehara had received a letter of commendation from Hiroshima police in 2024 for rescuing an elderly woman who had gone missing, and on 5ch many commenters expressed shock at the gap between that history and the current allegations. Others questioned how light the statutory penalties are, while some posted photos of anti-trafficking warning signs at Taiwanese airports.
Hiroshima Prefectural Police re-arrested construction company president Riho Maehara (32, of Asaminami Ward, Hiroshima City) and former company executive Yuka Matsumoto (30, same address) on the 7th on suspicion of attempted kidnapping for transport abroad and violating the Employment Security Act (introducing workers to harmful occupations). The two allegedly told a person they had rejected at a hiring interview, “I can introduce you to a job that pays well,” and referred them to a Tokuryu (anonymous, fluid criminal group).
[At a glance] How anonymous, fluid criminal groups structure their crimes
Both suspects reportedly deny the allegations.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
They've got signs like this posted at Taiwanese airports
That's how big a problem it's become
Looked it up, turns out Japan and China both put out a ton of posters about this too
These are placed along the route Taiwanese people take when leaving the country, right?
Not along the route after entering Taiwan?
Foreigners can't read Taiwanese (traditional Chinese) anyway
And both women, too
This company's built for exactly this kind of thing
Re: #15
They ran photos with the company name "First Co., Ltd." right in frame, so yeah, pretty much
Clearly a company set up for shipping out organs
Seriously, end times
What are the police and the DA's special investigation unit even doing?
Investigate the whole company already
Wonder if there's a "Second" and "Third" too
How many of these are there in total…
"Shortstop Co., Ltd." (riffing on the First/Second/Third joke — baseball infield positions)
On Google Maps it's listed as a "Psychic Center"
The photo from her arrest that's being reported and the photo of her being commended by Hiroshima police — it's the same person.
Commended for helping an elderly person, apparently. What is going on
Being commended by the "80-million-yen" prefectural police doesn't mean much (a mocking nickname for the police, apparently referencing some unrelated scandal)
Wasn't this woman trying to kidnap her?
I get that it's a front-and-back thing
Nobody's all front or all back, y'know
They should check whether she took this elderly woman to an ATM
https://newsdig.tbs.co.jp/articles/rcc/1635060?display=1
"Not something just anyone could do." A woman who rescued an elderly woman who had been reported missing and drove her home to her waiting family received a letter of commendation from Hiroshima Prefectural Police.
The recipient of the commendation was Riho Maehara (31), an office worker living in Hiroshima City.
Guess back then she was officially listed as an "office worker"
Wonder if this is even true
Maybe she just happened to find an easy mark, got the address out of her planning to grab anything valuable, drove her home, and then there was a patrol car there, so she played it off as a spur-of-the-moment good deed
Isn't this just a case of her having abducted the woman somewhere and then just bringing her back?
Employment Security Act violation (imprisonment of 1-10 years, or a fine)
So worst case they could be out in just a few years…
Way too light
If you're tricked and shipped overseas, there's no telling if you'll ever make it back
Even for an attempt this should be life or death
How is this any different from North Korea's abductions?
So light
This crime's a real bargain
Human traffickers should get sentenced the same as murderers
You'd normally notice, right?
You wouldn't notice
By the time you'd notice, you've already handed over your resume — it's too late
If a pretty young woman tells you to your face "there's a way to make big money♥" you're not gonna notice, man
That's just how people are
But with that tough-guy dialect, it's also yakuza and hangure (semi-organized street gang) turf on the perpetrator side
Hiroshima was a military city before the war
Dock workers and others came from all over the country for military-related jobs, and entertainment districts catering to soldiers and laborers developed there too, so there've been plenty of yakuza running things since before the war
Being #1 in the country for young people leaving the prefecture isn't just for show
Sang it to the tune of the Gavan theme song (a reference to the 1980s tokusatsu show "Space Sheriff Gavan")
Well, you can't be a con artist without being good with people
Right?!
Thought he was just a kind driver, but then it's like, "Kaoru, you have to repay the favor" — creepy!!
Uh, you did that on your own, nobody asked you to
Background and key points of this topic
Tokuryu (anonymous, fluid criminal groups) is a term for a recent style of organized crime in which recruiters round up participants ad hoc via social media; the term comes up frequently in “yami baito” (underground/black-market gig job) cases. The statutory penalty for the current charge of attempted kidnapping for transport abroad is imprisonment of 2 years or more, while violating the Employment Security Act (introducing workers to harmful occupations) carries imprisonment of 1 to 10 years or a fine — and since it’s charged as an attempt, even a prison sentence could mean release after a relatively short time. That’s the sentencing behind the “too light” comments in the thread. The 2024 incident in which Maehara rescued a missing elderly woman and received a commendation from Hiroshima police is a separate matter from the current charges, and it has not been established that the commended act itself was staged — a point that’s easy to misread. As for the anti-trafficking signs at Taiwanese airports, thread opinion was split on whether they’re aimed at people leaving or entering the country, and the facts can’t be confirmed from the article alone.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Breaking News Plus) thread “–ÊÚ•sÌ—pŽÒ‚ðƒgƒNƒŠƒ…ƒE‚ÉЉîA“Œ“ìƒAƒWƒA‚Ɉڑ—‚µ‚悤‚Æ‚µ‚½‹^‚¢@ŒšÝ‰ïŽÐ‘ã•\‚ðÄ‘ß•ß [Hitzeschleierš]“.
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