The Reality of the Methamphetamine Trade: The Transformation of the Underground Economy and the Bifurcation of the Gangs: The End of the 1990s

The Reality of the Methamphetamine Trade: The Transformation of the Underground Economy and the Bifurcation of the Gangs: The End of the 1990s

Methamphetamine has been the largest source of funding for Japan's postwar black economy, and its structure has survived through the years, changing its form from era to era. Immediately after the war, the Occupation Forces brought in the stimulant drug "Hiropon," which was widely distributed among demobilized soldiers and the unemployed as a "drug that allowed people to work without sleeping. When the government eventually banned the production and sale of the drug, it turned to the black market, where zainichi organizations and smugglers took control of the trade. Behind the backdrop of rapid economic growth, methamphetamines were used as "efficiency-enhancing drugs" at construction sites, transportation companies, and other physical labor sites, deeply penetrating the basement of society.

In the 1980s, organized crime syndicates established full-scale sales networks, and the main smuggling route shifted to the "North Korean route" via Taiwan, Hong Kong, and South Korea. North Korean methamphetamine was highly pure, and at first was called "Special A" and swept the market. However, in the late 1990s, supply declined sharply due to tighter international controls and a maritime blockade, causing prices to skyrocket. As a result, inferior products began to appear on the domestic market, and the number of cases of intermediary brokers selling low-quality synthetic chemicals falsely labeled as "Special A" increased.

In the world of trade, trust is valued more than money. In the methamphetamine business, it was almost impossible for an unproven trader to enter the market, since betrayal and tip-offs could be fatal. Although an increasing number of organizations within the gangs had a "no drugs allowed" policy, it was only a figure of speech, and in reality many of the executives were involved in trafficking behind the scenes. Especially after 1998, the National Police Agency's "Special Measures Against Drug Crimes" were strengthened, resulting in a string of busts across the country. Among major organizations such as the Yamaguchigumi and the Inagawa-kai, several executives were arrested, and incidents that shook the prestige of the organizations continued.

The social background during this period was the expansion of poverty and isolation caused by the collapse of the bubble economy. The sense of social alienation and the impasse in life led to dependence on methamphetamine, and the number of users spread from laborers to housewives, students, and the unemployed. The gangs targeted these vulnerable groups and turned self-destruction and dependence into a business. The methamphetamine trade was no longer an "antisocial activity" but a pillar of the gang's economy as a "stable business in a depressed economy.

However, as the 21st century approached, police crackdowns and international cooperation progressed, and the gangs were gradually forced to withdraw from the methamphetamine market. What took over were highly anonymous foreign networks and young semi-gangs on the outer fringes of the gangs. They shifted to black market transactions via the Internet, opening an era of anonymity and efficiency that differed from the traditional yakuza economy based on "trust and territory. The reality of the methamphetamine trade is the very essence of the transformation of the underworld and a microcosm of the process by which the gangs were transforming themselves from an "organization" into a "network.