Japanese police have ramped up crackdowns on sex worker scout groups amid a worrying trend of women going into prostitution to pay off debts incurred at entertainment clubs.
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Tokyo police on Wednesday arrested 27-year-old Tatsuya Kitamura, believed to be a senior member of the recruitment group Access, local media reported.
He was detained over violating the Employment Security Act by introducing a woman in her 20s to work at two adult entertainment outlets in Tokyo in July 2024.
The two stores were believed to have recruited about 280 women over a seven-month period, paying 6.5 million yen (US$43,500) to scout groups in referral fees, or “scout backs”.
According to the force, Access sent numerous victims to about 350 sex service establishments and earned 7 billion yen from its operations over the past five years.
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It charged 15 per cent of a woman’s earnings as referral fees, and collected cash mailed to a shell office to conceal the flow of money, Jiji Press agency reported.