Editing Yakuza (section)

=== Asia (outside Japan) ===
The yakuza have engaged in illegal activities in [[Southeast Asia]] since the 1960s; they are working there to develop sex tourism and drug trafficking.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bouissou |first1=Jean-Marie |title=Le marché des services criminels au Japon. Les yakuzas et l'État |trans-title=The criminal services market in Japan. The Yakuza and the State |language=fr |journal=Critique Internationale |year=1999 |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=155–174 |doi=10.3406/criti.1999.1602 |url=https://hal-sciencespo.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01010801/file/ci03p155-174.pdf }}</ref> This is the area where they are still the most active today.

In addition to their presence in Southeast Asian countries such as [[Thailand]], the [[Philippines]], and [[Vietnam]], yakuza groups also operate in [[South Korea]], [[China]], [[Taiwan]], and in the [[Pacific Islands]] (mainly [[Hawaii]]).<ref name="page104" >Jean-François Gayraud, ''Le Monde des mafias'', édition 2008, p. 104</ref>

Yakuza groups also have a presence in North Korea; in 2009, yakuza Yoshiaki Sawada was released from a North Korean prison after spending five years there attempting to bribe a North Korean official and smuggle drugs.<ref>[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090116a6.html Yakuza returns after five years in North Korea jail on drug charge] 2009-01-16 The Japan Times</ref>