### 4. Measures against International Crime Syndicates

The police are implementing a variety of countermeasures by multi-faceted approaches in cooperation with relevant domestic and foreign institutions with the objective of eliminating international crime syndicates, which have a significant impact on the public safety and peace of Japan.

## (1) Cooperation with Relevant Institutions in Japan

## 1 ) Border Enforcement/Control Measures

In January 2005, the NPA, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Finance, with support from airline companies, together installed the Advance Passenger Information System (APIS), which enables verification information regarding crew members and passengers arriving to Japan on board an aircraft against information retained by relevant institutions $ ^{1} $ regarding blacklisted individuals, etc. Starting November 2007, it was made obligated for the captains of airplane or ship to provide information in advance. Moreover, foreign nationals are obligated to provide personal identification information such as fingerprints at the time of entering Japan in order to prevent the use of false passports or illegal entry under disguise. This was put into practice in 20 November 2007.

Note 1: The National Police Agency, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Finance

## 2 ) Other Efforts

In order to implement a thorough, organized crack-down on persons falsifying legal residence and those who aid and abet them, the police, in cooperation with the Immigration Bureau at the Ministry of Justice, are advancing exchanges of information in tandem with joint efforts to expose illegal residences.

## (2) Cooperation with Overseas Public Safety Institutions and Others

In cases where suspects in crimes committed in Japan are foreign nationals, it is often the case that the police need to make an inquiry to the country of nationality of the suspects in order to confirm their address, name, date of birth, etc. Also in cases of suspects fleeing Japan, the police must request institutions in the destination country to confirm the whereabouts of suspects. Thus, cooperation with public safety institutions is indispensable for investigation of international crimes. The police implement measures as follows.

## 1 ) Investigative Cooperation through the ICPO

The ICPO is an international organization that carries out the collection and exchange of information on international crimes, organization of various international meetings for crime countermeasures, issuance of international arrest and search instructions, and comprises police institutions from various countries. As of the end of 2007, 187 countries and regions had joined the ICPO. Each participating country or region establishes a National Central Bureau (NCB) to act as a liaison. In Japan, the NPA is designated as the NCB.

Table 2-17 Trends in the Number of Cases in which Japan Asked for Mutual Legal Assistance to Foreign Countries (1999-2008)

Year Category	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
ICPO channel (case)	494	719	774	871	817	534	485	483	458	441
Diplomatic channel	9	13	24	15	10	14	14	30	26	39

Table 2-18 Trends in the Number of Cases in which Japan was Asked Mutual Legal Assistance by foreign countries (1999-2008)
Year	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Category
ICPO channel (case)	1,090	1,346	1,106	827	985	1,085	856	1,193	995	1,013
Diplomatic channel	11	9	10	19	13	13	30	25	14	12