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Offices of Yamaken-gumi, rival raided over traffic blockage

Kunio Inoue, the boss of the Yamaken-gumi, appears on the cover of Shukan Jitsuwa
Kunio Inoue, the boss of the Yamaken-gumi, appears on the cover of Shukan Jitsuwa

HYOGO (TR) – Hyogo Prefectural Police raided on Friday raided a number of offices of the Yamaken-gumi organized crime group and a rival gang over a traffic incident in Himeji City earlier in the week, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Dec. 11).

At around 2:00 p.m., approximately 110 investigators and riot police entered the gang’s headquarters in Kobe’s Chuo Ward and six other offices, including the rival Takenaka-gumi, in search of evidence connected to the illegal halting of traffic in the Uomachi entertainment district of Himeji.

Between 5:25 p.m. and 6:10 p.m. on Tuesday, approximately 30 people, including members of the Yamaken-gumi, allegedly participated in the blocking of traffic with eight passenger vehicles on a road in the Uomachi area.

At that time of the incident, Teruaki Takeuchi, an upper-level member of the Yamaguchi-gumi, was dining at a restaurant with member of the Tanenaka-gumi. Police suspect that the blockage of traffic was meant to disturb the meeting.

The Takenaka-gumi is affiliated with the Yamaguchi-gumi, which split over the summer. The Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi formed following the dissolution as a rival gang and includes the Yamaken-gumi.