The number of crime syndicate members in Japan fell to a record-low 34,500 in 2017, down for the 13th straight year, on the back of stronger police crackdowns, national police data showed Thursday.The figure dropped about 4,600 from a year earlier to the lowest level since comparable data became available in 1958."Many people left the syndicates as they struggled to secure funding amid tighter police control and thoroughgoing efforts to eliminate (such groups)," said an official of the National Police Agency.Of the total, main members stood at 16,800, while semi-regulars who are loosely all…READ FULL ARTICLE
