crime

U.S. hospital provided liver transplants to 4 Japanese gang figures, including gang boss

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Truly sad, liver transplants going to worthless criminals. But sorry no one here can blame the Japanese people in general for this. That these criminals received the transplants has nothing to do with the Japanese government, U.S. rules do not prohibit criminals from receiving transplants unfortunately. But I question the wisdom of Goto receiving assistance from the FBI to enter the U.S. to give information on illegal activity by Japanese criminal figures. I can see maybe Hawaii, but really does anyone in their right minds think Japanese organized crime has any sort of presence in America? Big surprise no intel was given, cuz there is no such activity!

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Nothing wrong, money buys everything and that includes moral.

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Was worth a try from the FBI. Unfortunetly they couldn't successfully follow -up on it.

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Why does the Japanese government allow convicted felons to apply for passports? They should be kept at home. Period.

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That these criminals received the transplants has nothing to do with the Japanese government,

err, how about the Jp government try and persuade more people to donate (and allow kids to have transplants within Japan instead of putting a burden on foreign countries), stop giving out passports to criminals (and releasing criminals to the outside world), and finally, do something about the yakuza in general, instead of treating them as legitimate organizations who are free to terrorize anyone.

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and how about J-cops sharing a little info, if you read they newspaper piece the J-cops DONT provide any info because of privacy issues, how lame, but J-cops sure want help from Interpol when needed, I think the J-cops & their pathetic "justice system" need a great big dose of gaiatsu

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And if anyone had read the Yomiuri article on the same, would realize this piece of crud gave the FBI almost no information at all. The jerk must be smiling everyday now with a new liver and more time to cause more misery to ordinary Japanese people.

http://www.asianoffbeat.com/default.asp?display=1769

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It could not be determined how much UCLA and Busuttil were paid for the Japanese transplants, the Times reported.

Of course not.

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The FBI being clowns isnt news, however this is just a highlight of the immoral US health care system where money buys life and nothing else is a consideration. Disgusting.

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Gangster scum deserver nothing. The only transplant they deserve is from society into a nice little cell.

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rjd_jr: "But sorry no one here can blame the Japanese people in general for this."

No one did, or has. Can we blame the Japanese government? In part we can, definitely.

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Lots of foreigners avail themselves of the world's best health care, found in America. Canadians are the most common. You always see them (actually, you hear them first) in hospitals and specialists' clinics on the West Coast. No one asks if they have criminal backgrounds, though it is safe to assume many do, when you consider that cannabis is now the number one cash crop in BC.

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So, exactly how can the Japanese government be partly blamed for this fiasco smithinjapan? The article clearly states that it was with the assistance of the FBI, not the J government, that these thugs were able to get a visa for the U.S. Nowhere in the article does it state that the J government assisted in any way these guys' ability to get the organ transplant. So, anything else is pure speculation. Period.

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'several hundred local residents died waiting'??? Several hundred who were matches to those four livers, or just several hundred people? It lends an air of indignance to the article but it's hardly accurate. Even if the four livers had gone to locals, several hundred people still would have died.

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There's no doubt in my mind that Bussutil knew exactly what he was doing. That he was also wined, dined, given heaps of cash with all expenses paid jaunts to Japan to see his client, er, patient. In the meantime, deserving people must have died. I say get this guy and publicly pillory the swine. Do read this link... http://www.asianoffbeat.com/default.asp?display=1769

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good job FBI...completely played for supreme suckers by this poor excuse for a human being

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"U.S. transplant rules do not prohibit hospitals from performing transplants on foreign patients or those with criminal histories."

Of course not, you pay amount they ask for and you get it.

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rjd jr

question for ya, who issues JAPANESE PASSPORTS? If you can answer that question then you know ___(fill in blank) aids these very well known mobsters in international travel thus playing a part in all this crap!

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The facts: 186 people on the waiting list in the LA area died while these pieces of dog crap picked up new livers to the tune of: $520,000 each. Plus the airfares for the surgeon to Japan and the wining and dining and wads of cash. Strip this menace of his medical license... http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ucla30-2008may30,0,2450157,full.story

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rjd jr question for ya, who issues JAPANESE PASSPORTS? If you can answer that question then you know ___(fill in blank) aids these very well known mobsters in international travel thus playing a part in all this crap!

rjd_jr: "But sorry no one here can blame the Japanese people in general for this." No one did, or has. Can we blame the Japanese government? In part we can, definitely.

Let me butt in, is to grant a convicted criminal the ability to exit the country a negligent act on part of any official? unless such act is contrary to the principles of customary international law or treaty, there is no case to condemn the act of giving any man whether s/he be free of conviction or not, the freedom to travel abroad. It is for the nation that felon purports to enter to assume the risk of granting entry to such persons. It is the duty of the immigration officials to check whether each persons entering the US has a conviction that would warrant the denial of entry. There is nothing in the facts to suggest that the Japanese officials were negligent in not disclosing their previous convictions. Yet these gang figures entered the US, which implies it was the US immigration officials that were negligent to follow up on readily available information on convictions.

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FYI there was a related article in the May 11 Washington Post by a former Yomiuri Shimbun reporter who for years covered organized crime in Japan.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/09/AR2008050902544.html

The article explains the activities of yakuza in the US that were of legitimate interest to the FBI. It also claims the Japanese national police share nearly no information on the yakuza with US law enforcement.

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I do not believe this article for one reason. High ranking gangsters can get any passport they want. No need to travel as them self. this is absolute garbage journalism. These gangsters traveled to the US under the guise of wealthy businessmen and paid a few extra dollars to get a kidney instead of some impoverished US citizens people who were waiting.

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