TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police are stepping up its crackdown on the scout group Access, which lures women on social media with the promise of high pay and sends them to commercial sex establishments.
The group has made a total of 7 billion yen over the past five years by sending women to establishments that offer good conditions, a method similar to human trafficking.
“We must dismantle this illegal business model,” a senior officer tells Jiji Press (Feb. 25).
Access began its activities at the latest around 2019. They have women send in their profiles, including identification cards, selfies, age and bust size. This information is then shared with adult entertainment establishments. They dispatch the women to establishments that offer the highest pay.
The group has about 300 members. The number of adult entertainment establishments they utilize is about 350 nationwide. They signed contracts with the establishments to receive 15 percent of the women’s pay as an introduction fee. To make it difficult to understand the flow of money, they had them mail cash to a “virtual office” via letter pack and collected it.
The establishments also go to great lengths to ensure the women stay employed. If they try to run away, the business will threaten to expose their photos in an attempt to make them continue working.
They also made every effort to secure scouts. They expanded their organization such that upper members receive a portion of the compensation of the people they recruit into the group as scouts.
Many of the members are young people in their 20s, such as university students. One of the arrested scouts stated that he was able to make a stable amount of money with just one mobile phone. One scout earned around 6.3 million yen a month.
The scouts are divided into three teams, each with a leader. The teams competed against each other to increase profits.
According to investigators, the existence of Access came to light last November. A with a large amount of debt to a bar host in the Kabukicho red-light district consulted with police. She said that the host had told her to borrow money from a consumer credit company to repay the money.
During the course of the investigation, it was discovered that Access had dispatched many women to soapland bathhouses in Oita Prefecture introduced by the host through a scout.
In January, police set up a special investigation headquarters of about 70 people in the Public Safety Bureau to uncover the full extent of the organization.
So far, around 10 people, including the group’s leaders, have been arrested. Another senior agency official said, “If we arrest the scouts who connect hosts and adult entertainment establishments, we can deal a blow to both.”
