HYOGO (TR) – To be filed under: Breaking up is hard to do.
Last month, it emerged that the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi would be splitting into two gangs, a move that follows its formation less than two years ago via a similar division in the Yamaguchi-gumi, the nation’s largest criminal syndicate.
However, dissenting members of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, who formed a new gang called the Ninkyo Dantai Yamaguchi-gumi, appear to be on the receiving end of something of an olive branch, reports Mainichi Broadcasting System (May 8).
At the first monthly meeting since the split, upper-level members of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi gathered at its headquarters in Awaji City. Among them was one boss who was believed to have been one of the dissenting members.
“There is a 10-day window to return to the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi,” an investigative source with the Hyogo Prefectural Police tells the network. “There has been talk about non-punishment for those returning. So, maybe there are members who have changed their minds.”
In September of 2015, more than a dozen affiliate gangs of the Yamaguchi-gumi left to form the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi. Since the split of the Yamaguchi-gumi, law enforcement had been taking measures to alleviate violence between the two gangs. With three syndicates now in the mix, police are once again actively gathering intelligence in an effort to stem any potential violence.
Police have already recorded one incident of violence since the split of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi. A member of the Ninkyo Dantai Yamaguchi-gumi told police was jumped by several men after he emerged from a vehicle in Kobe’s Chuo Ward in the early morning hours of May 6. The gangster suffered minor injuries, including wounds to his head.
Two days later, police searched offices affiliated with the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi in search of evidence on suspicion of assault.
