TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested four organized crime members for participation in a fight that broke out last month in Shinjuku Ward, reports the Mainichi Shimbun (Mar. 14).
On February 15, Shinichi Kane, a 55-year-old upper-level member of a gang affiliated with the Yamaguchi-gumi, and three other gangsters repeatedly kicked and struck a man, 35, on a street in the Kabukicho red-light district.
All four suspects, who have been charged with assault, have refused to comment on the charges.
The victim is not a gang member.
According to Fuji News Network (Mar. 14), police used security camera footage to identify the suspects.
On Saturday, police raided an office of the Yamaguchi-gumi and seized evidence related to the incident, which is believed to be connected to an ongoing feud with the gang’s newly formed rival, the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi.
On the same day as the fight, members of the Yamaguchi-gumi clashed with gangsters from Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi. It was previously reported that the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi had held a meeting at a coffee shop in the area prior to the fracas.
Since the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi formed following the dissolution of the Yamaguchi-gumi in September, law enforcement has been taking measures to alleviate violence between the two gangs. Last week, the National Police Agency officially acknowledged that the groups are in a “state of confrontation.”
