An evolving gangster...Crime Diversified in Popular 'MZ'

[Anchor]
The so-called 'MZ' has been shown to make up the majority of gang members.

In addition, the type of crime is also shifting to speculative sales.

Reporter Chung Hyun-woo's report.

[Reporter]
In the middle of the street, several men grab each other by the collar while punching each other.

It is so-called MZ gangsters in their teens and 30s who make the streets of Jeonju a mess.

In downtown Ulsan, a large number of gang members were arrested for unilaterally assaulting citizens whose shoulders were hit.

More than 40 people, most of whom are MZs, were found to have raised funds by opening illegal gambling sites.

This fearless MZ gang, it turns out, has recently become the majority of gang members.

Among the gang members arrested in southern Gyeonggi Province this year, 73% of them are teenagers to 30s.

At one point, it decreased for a while and then increased again recently, making it the majority of the total.

Crime types tend to shift to gambling illegal operations rather than simple violent events.

Four years ago, half of all arrests were violent events, and gambling operations were around 1%.

But if you look at gang members arrested this year, violence has shrunk to 11%, and more than half are gambling operations.

Police say they will crack down intensively as MZ gangs increase.

In particular, it plans to strengthen intelligence collection centered on the dedicated team and crack down on crimes by analyzing changes and characteristics of MZ gang members.

I'm Jeong Hyeonwoo from YTN.