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Yakuza syndicate to be officially tagged as ‘violent’

Kunio Inoue is the top boss of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi
Kunio Inoue is the top boss of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, a gang now designated as a boryokudan, or ‘violent organization’

TOKYO (TR) – The National Public Safety Commission confirmed on Thursday that a recently formed organized crime group would be labeled as “violent,” reports the Sankei Shimbun (April 7).

The Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, which formed in Hyogo Prefecture following the dissolution of the Yamaguchi-gumi last summer, will now be designated as a boryokudan, or “violent organization.” The label will be effective starting later this month and extend for a three-year period.

The Hyogo Prefectural Public Safety Commission invited upper-level members of the gang to present commentary on its possible boryokudan designation to a meeting held on March 22. However, no members of the gang attended the session. Gangs are afforded the chance to offer commentary on the matter as a part of a procedure outlined in the Anti-Orgranized Crime Law of 1991.

Since the middle of February, a turf war between the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi and Yamaguchi-gumi has escalated with an outbreak of multiple shootings, fire bombings and car-ramming incidents. Last month, the National Police Agency officially acknowledged that the groups are in a “state of confrontation.”

The Hyogo Prefectural Public Safety Commission had previously indicated that the boryokudan designation was possible due to the fact that many members of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi have criminal records.