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Osaka cops raid yakuza office over robbery of ¥70 million

Osaka police searched an office of the Kodo-kai in Gifu City
Osaka police searched an office of the Kodo-kai in Gifu City on Wednesday (Mainichi Broadcasting System)

GIFU (TR) – Osaka Prefectural Police searched an office of the key affiliated gang of the Yamaguchi-gumi in Gifu City on Wednesday as a part of an investigation into the robbery of 70 million yen in Osaka in April, reports Mainichi Broadcasting System (Oct. 18).

At around 11:00 a.m., officers entered the office of the Kodo-kai in search of evidence connected to the robbery of Tsuyoshi Yoshino, 42, and Takahiro Nishikawa, 34, on a road in Osaka’s Chuo Ward on April 28.

Police have made seven arrests in the case, including Yasuhiro Sasaki, a 43-year-old member of the Kodo-kai. During questioning, the suspect declined to comment on the allegations.

Prior to the robbery, Yoshino, a resident of Aichi Prefecture, and Nishikawa (Minato Ward, Tokyo) arrived at Kansai International Airport on a flight from Singapore with 15 plates of gold, each weighing 1 kilogram.

After arrival, Yoshino and Nishikawa sold the gold at a precious metals shop. Soon after, they were attacked by three unknown men on the road and robbed of about 70 million yen in cash. At least one of them suffered a bone fracture in the incident.

Gold smuggling

Yoshino and Nishikawa did not report the gold to customs officials upon arrival. Police later accused Yoshino and Nishikawa of smuggling to evade 5.5 million yen in taxes.

Initially, the men falsely claimed to police that the money was obtained via a real estate transaction.