Liberty Tree/Yakuza Operating With Impunity

Yakuza Operating With Impunity is an article written for the Liberty Tree newspaper by Thomas Jones in June 2001.

Article


Japanese criminals have begun to operate in Liberty City. Police note with shame that the on-going financial crisis in Asia has led to some of the most violent criminals in the east making the journey to the west. Liberty City has, since the mid 1970s, had a large transient population of Japanese businessmen, overseeing vital Japanese investments in the area. Now it seems that others are over-seeing the businessmen.

The exact extent of Yakuza activity, or the nature of their wrongdoing remains unclear, but what is clear is that it is going on. An LCPD representative noted, "They're out there. We can't see them, or touch them, or smell them, but we know they're out there. God knows what they're doing, but we bet it's really bad." He added that several well-known Japanese gangsters have recently been approved for visas and have been seen disembarking planes in Liberty City.

Experts report that the Yakuza have traditionally focused on a few key areas of illicit activity, especially hostess bars, importing illegal meat, amphetamines trading alongside protection rackets and gambling. What this can mean for Liberty City's already congested criminal market place, only Tokyo knows right now.