ANOTHER alleged member of the Japanese “Luffy gang” was arrested by the authorities in Las Pinas City last Tuesday.
The group is linked to theft, fraud, extortion, and other crimes in Japan.
Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said Takuya Hoshino, 23, was apprehended by operatives of the Bureau of Immigration Fugitive Search Unit (BI-FSU) in his rented house on Casimiro Ave., Bernice Subd., Las Pinas City.
Hoshino is the latest alleged member of the Luffy gang that immigration and police authorities have arrested since last year, when their presence in the country was reported by Japanese authorities to their Philippine counterparts through the Japanese Embassy in Manila.
“Like his colleagues in the syndicate whom we have arrested earlier, he, too, will be deported, blacklisted, and banned from re-entering the Philippines,” Viado said.
Hoshino is detained at the BI’s warden facility in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City pending his deportation to Tokyo.
BI-FSU chief Rendel Ryan Sy said Hoshino is the subject of an outstanding arrest warrant the Tokyo Summary Court issued on Sept. 15, 2022 after he was charged with theft.
Citing information that Japanese authorities provided, Sy said Hoshino and his cohorts stole ATM cards, preying on elderly victims by impersonating law enforcement officers.
“They were said to have even staged fake police investigations to dupe their victims into surrendering their bank cards,” Sy said.
He said the gang was able to siphon off around 20 million yen or $141,000 from their victims through unauthorized withdrawals from the stolen cards.
BI records showed Hoshino also overstayed in the country for more than five years, as his last arrival in Manila was on Oct. 30, 2019.
Last January, authorities apprehended another gang member identified as Sasaki Takashi in his residence in Savana Village, San Pablo City, Laguna.
