Overview of the Simultaneous Nationwide Searches
Under coordination by the National Police Agency, the Metropolitan Police Department, Aichi Prefectural Police, and Osaka Prefectural Police carried out a joint search on August 18, 2022 against the illegal scouting group "Black Star" (tentative name). They simultaneously searched 12 locations across the three cities of Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka, arresting a total of 12 of the group's executives and middle managers on suspicion of violating the Employment Security Act (unlicensed operation of fee-charging employment placement).
The Group's Organization and Methods
Black Star had a three-tier organizational structure of "supervisors," "area managers," and "field scouts," with several to more than a dozen members stationed in each city.
The method—beginning with street pickups, followed by contact via social media and an "interview" at a family restaurant, then gradual steering toward the sex industry—is common to other illegal scouting groups. Many of the women who became victims said, "At first it was a story about ordinary modeling or hospitality work."
The Wide-Area Nature of the Crackdown
This sweeping crackdown shows that a single scouting group had cast its organization across multiple major cities, and that handling it through a single police station or single prefecture is insufficient. The National Police Agency stated, "As a response to wide-area crime, we will continue to strengthen multi-jurisdiction cooperation."
This article is compiled based on publicly available information.