TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Thursday announced the bust of a store in the Nishi Ikebukuro district that sold illegal pornographic DVDs, reports TBS News (Nov. 26).
On November 1, Akihiro Asami, the 49-year-old manager of the operation, located near JR Ikebukuro Station, allegedly sold 31 DVDs in which genitalia was not censored to a government worker in his 50s for 15,000 yen.
On Tuesday, police took Asami and seven other employees into custody and seized approximately 25,000 discs from the shop’s storage house.
To attract customers, the shop utilized streets touts who roamed the Ikebukuro area while holding signboards reading “DVD.”
Asami, who in the past ran a different shop that peddled the same illegal merchandise, admits to the allegations, telling police that he did it to earn income to cover living expenses.
Sales for the operation have reached 150 million yen since August of last year. According to Fuji News Network (Nov. 26), the business was likely used to fund organized crime.