Overview
- An assistant inspector in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police’s organized-crime unit was detained on suspicion of leaking investigative information to the large illegal scouting group known as Natural.
- Investigators seized about ¥9,000,000 in cash from the officer’s home, according to reporting based on police sources.
- Police suspect the officer twice sent images showing how targets appeared on investigation cameras via Natural’s proprietary app in late April to early May.
- National Public Safety Commission chair Jiro Akama condemned the leak as “utterly unacceptable” in an Upper House committee session and directed a thorough probe and robust recurrence‑prevention measures.
- The police said they will conduct all necessary investigations and respond strictly, as separate diplomatic engagements continued with Japan–UK economic security talks, a Japanese protest over an Osaka consul’s X posts, and an Australia–Indonesia plan for a new security treaty.