Osaka police crack down on "Tokuryu" ring over underage prostitution

The group, made up of roughly 70 members, are suspected of recruiting minor girls for prostitution through social media.

The police department's juvenile division has arrested ring leader Yusuke Kimura, 34, and four other members for allegations including violations of the antiprostitution law, and all of them have been indicted. Kimura allegedly forced a female high school student to engage in prostitution with two men in the city of Kishiwada around mid-June last year.

Soon after that, the girl was believed to have been taken to the Tohoku northeastern region and other areas by another ring member, where she was forced to have sex with a total of about 100 people over 10 days, according to the division. She told the police that she was given only one meal a day and that she wanted to go home badly.

There are believed to be many groups in Osaka that recruit women on social media for prostitution. The Osaka police believe that Kimura and other members of the Tokuryu group conducted their operations outside of the prefecture to avoid issues with other groups and secure profits.

On July 2, the Osaka District Court gave guilty verdicts to low-ranking ring members Kaito Takimoto, 26, and Shunto Niiyama, 21, for forcing girls aged under 20 to engage in prostitution in Akita and Fukushima prefectures in Tohoku and the central prefectures of Ishikawa and Fukui.

Takimoto was sentenced to two years and six months in prison, suspended for five years, and Niiyama to one year and six months in prison, suspended for four years.

The Osaka police are investigating the tokuryu ring to identify others involved in the crime and to find additional victims.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]