Police in Nueva Ecija province north of Manila on Nov. 1 arrested a 57‑year‑old Japanese suspect who is believed to be the second‑in‑command of the JP Dragon telecom fraud syndicate, according to Xinhua and local media source Inquirer.net.
The arrest is part of an intensified Philippine crackdown on cross‑border telecom fraud that has seen senior members of the group detained across Asia. The JP Dragon syndicate, which has targeted elderly victims, had its former head arrested in the Philippines in June of the same year, leading authorities to view the newly apprehended suspect as its top leader. The syndicate is also linked to the “Luffy” crime group, which carried out fraud and robbery operations in Japan between 2021 and 2023 and whose key members were arrested in the Philippines.
