Philippines says it has learned lessons from ‘Luffy’ crime ring case

The Philippines has taken steps to ensure that foreign nationals detained in its main immigration facility in Manila cannot conduct criminal activities the country’s justice secretary has said. The move is in response to the “Luffy”-led Japanese crime ring, which organized burglaries while incarcerated there until they were caught a year ago.

Regarding immigration detention, Philippine justice secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said in an interview on Thursday that “We have pinpointed the weaknesses in the system,” adding that the Philippines has learned lessons from the case, in which four people inside the facility orchestrated crimes in Japan in 2021 and 2022.

Kiyoto Imamura, who the Japanese police suspect used the pseudonym Luffy when planning the crimes, and the three others are believed to have coordinated the robberies from the immigration detention facility via an encrypted messaging app through which they offered high-paying jobs to people in Japan in exchange for participation in criminal activity.