The Guardian reports on how Japanese Organized Crime syndicates are expanding their business opportunities.

According to senior police officials, the yakuza is targeting the stock market and the construction industry to add to the earnings it already receives from illegal businesses such as prostitution, drug smuggling, extortion and gambling.

The article states that the yakuza is being forced to expand its “fundraising” opportunities due to a crackdown by law enforcement in Japan.

Japan’s underworld has been forced to diversify by economic instability and a 1992 anti-gang law that made yakuza dons legally culpable for crimes committed by their followers. Police are also cracking down on individual gangsters who collect protection money from bars and restaurants, a traditional source of yakuza income.

[FP Passport]