FUKUOKA (TR) – Fukuoka Prefectural Police are confirming information regarding the possible retirement of Satoru Nomura, the de facto top boss of the Kudo-kai criminal syndicate, reports the Asahi Shimbun (Mar. 25).
Sources in the criminal underworld this month told police that the de facto leader and president of the Kudo-kai, 79-year-old Nomura, had “retired.”
There is a possibility that the number-two man, Fumio Tanoue, 69, will succeed him, but the police are still gathering information.
“Operation Summit”
Nomura is the fourth chairman of the Kudo-kai, which is based in Kitakyushu City. Fifteen years ago, he relinquished the chairmanship to Tanoue. However, he is considered to have continued to reign as the de facto leader even after stepping down.
Police arrested Nomura and Tanoue separately as part of “Operation Summit” in September 2014.
The two men were indicted on murder charges for their involvement in a total of four incidents: the 1998 shooting death of a former fisheries cooperative chairman, the 2012 shooting of a former prefectural police inspector, the 2013 stabbing of a nurse and the 2014 stabbing of a dentist.
In 2021, the Fukuoka District Court sentenced Nomura to death, but the Fukuoka High Court overturned the first-instance ruling, finding him not guilty of one murder. He was found guilty of the remaining murders and sentenced to life imprisonment. The prosecution has appealed to the Supreme Court.
Tagami received a life-imprisonment sentence in both the first and second trials, and has appealed, so his sentence is not yet final.
“Specific Dangerous Yakuza Group”
The Kudo-kai has repeatedly carried out attacks against citizens and businesses.
In 2012, it was designated as the only “Specific Dangerous Designated Yakuza Group” in Japan.
According to investigators, gang members visited Nomura at the detention center where he was being held every day, suggesting that he continued to exert influence over the Kudo-kai even more than 11 years after his arrest.
