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Show United States is on the watch for criminal Japanese mob Weekly Special lye", Washington Immigration inspectors in-spectors have been told to keep ,,..,.,.. -watch for Japanese mobsters enter-, ing the United States. Simply being a member of one of the suspected Japanese underworld gangs isn't enough to bar entry, but those who lie about possible criminal records can be prosecuted for document fraud and deported. The warning from the Immigration Immigra-tion Service's central intelligence office of-fice in Washington notes that "organized crime is not the primary jurisdiction of the officers of this service." ser-vice." But it points out that employees at ports of entry are "most likely to encounter an organized crime member applying for admission," and their "alert detection can sometimes preclude these individuals form entering the United States." Our associate Donald Goldberg obtained a copy of the Immigration Service's "special assessment" on Japanese criminal gangs. It makes fascinating reading. The Japanese mob is known as "Yakuza," and Japanese authorities estimated there are more than 2,000 component gangs with a total membership of 100,000. "Yakuza members trace their roots to Banzujin Chobei, a Japanese Robin Hood of the 17th century," the document discloses. "Chobei recruited his 'soldiers' from among social outcasts like himself, and many wore tattoos marking them as criminals." Originally, the gangs were called "Machi-Yakko," and members developed the interesting custom of cutting off a fingertip to offer as apology to the leader if they failed an assignment. The gangsters' favorite non-violent pastime was a blackjack-like card game. And that's where the modern name came from. States the Immigration Service Ser-vice document: "If a player drew as his cards an eight, nine and three, which can be pronounced in Japanese as Ya Ku Za, he had a worthless hand; the Yakuza of today call themselves 'worthless' persons, social outcasts. The Japanese police refer to them as 'Boryokudan' or 'violent ones.'" Yakuza members first arrived on U.S. soil in Hawaii during the 1960s; they now number about 100. Their targets are Japanese-American travel agencies, bus companies, hotels and souvenir shops that cater to tourists from Japan in Honolulu, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The name of the Yakuza game is extortion. extor-tion. The U.S. branches also serve a valuable purpose as outlets for money-laundering and investments using the estimated $5 billion the Yakuza in Japan rakes in each year. Like the Mafia, the Yakuza is engaged engag-ed in prostitutuion, drug smuggling, arms traffic and pornography, as well as in such legitimate businesses as real estate, bars, nightclubs, travel agencies and export-import firms. FUTURE FILE: By the end of the centrury, according to our economice sources, the Information Revolution will transform the way most of us live. Here are some of their forecasts: Information technology will be the world's biggest manufacturing industry in-dustry by 1990. By 1993, only 22 million Americans will be employed in the manufacturing manufactur-ing sector, and the same number will be working in service industries. Employment in the basic smokestack industries will shrink from the current 20 percent of the labor force to a mere 8 percent. In four years, one-half of all American households will . have some kind of a computer system. There are now a little more than 6 million computers in the country. , EXECUTIVE MEMO: A high-level high-level Justice Department official wrote a fan letter to Don Johnson, star of the "Miami Vice" television series, asking if he would appear before a congressional committee. But the official's letter never reached reach-ed the star. In his letter, Brad Cates, head of the assess forfeiture office, told Johnson that his show was "rather popular" with many Justice Department employees and "with my wife as well." He invited Johnson and the show's producer, Michael Mann, to testify in favor of an anti-money-laundering bill before Congress. To put the fan in touch with the television star, we sent Johnson a copy of Cates' letter. WATCH ON THE PENTAGON: A change in military uniforms is in the works, thanks to a new fabric developed by the Pentagon. It is a light-weight synthetic that sheds water. The cold-weather uniforms will consist of turtleneck undershirt, long underpants, a pile shirt, trousers, parka, field coat, and something rarely seen since World War I balaclavas. These are medieval-looking, knitted helmets that cover the head and neck. DEBRIS UPDATE: Several months mon-ths ago, we told you about the California Debris Commission, which was established 92 years ago to regulate hydraulic gold-mining but which hasn't done a thing for more than 20 years. We are gratified ' to report that the House has approved approv-ed a water resources bill that includes in-cludes a provision to abolish the . three-member panel and turn its duties over to the Army Corps of-Engineers. of-Engineers. Now, if the Senate will do its part, this dinosaur may yet become extinct. Copyright, 1985, United Feature Syndicate, Syn-dicate, Inc. |