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Hyogo cops nab Yamaguchi-gumi executive for possession of guns

Miki Ando
Miki Ando (Twitter)

HYOGO (TR) – Hyogo Prefectural Police last week arrested the top boss of an affiliate gang of the Yamaguchi-gumi over the illegal possession of weapons in Himeji City, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Sept. 29).

In July, Miki Ando, the head of the Takenaka-gumi, and two other persons were found to be in possession of five pistols, one shotgun and 80 rounds of ammunition inside a residence connected to the gang. The contraband was hidden in a closet above a ceiling.

Police suspect that the residence was being used as an armory for the gang.

Ando is a highly respected member of the Yamaguchi-gumi. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the gunning down of three police officers standing guard at the home of the chairman of the rival Ichiwa-kai in Kobe in 1988.

Since his release in 2010, he has steadily moved up the ranks within the Yamaguchi-gumi, now positioned as a wakagashira, or a boss in line to succeed Shinobu Tsukasa as the the gang’s next Godfather.

On Monday morning, police raided the headquarters of the Yamaguchi-gumi in Kobe’s Nada Ward in search of evidence in the weapons case.