TOKYO (TR) – Five years ago, musician Aska told Tokyo Metropolitan Police that he purchased illegal drugs from the Sumiyoshi-kai criminal syndicate.
He was not alone — not by a long shot. An office of the Daisho-kai, a second-tier gang, located in the Kabukicho red-light district was known by those in the trade as the “Shinjuku Pharmacy.”
It seems that little has changed.
On Friday, police revealed that five members of the gang have been arrested on suspicion of trafficking in kakuseizai, or stimulant drugs, reports Jiji Press (Aug. 23).
Among the suspects is Masahiro Fujimoto, the 82-year-old chairman of the Daisho-kai. “I do not recall [the matter],” Fujimoto was quoted by police in denying the allegations.
Around August, 2016, Tokyo police working off a tip began a joint investigation with Hiroshima Prefectural Police on suspicion of drug trafficking by criminal syndicates, including the Daisho-kai.
Since this past March, police have seized 527 grams of stimulant drugs (valued at 31.6 million yen) and 1,370 grams of marijuana (6.85 million yen).
On July 17, investigators raided the Daisho-kai office in Kabukicho. Five days before, officers seized 12 grams of stimulant drugs — with a street of 720,000 yen — from a storage space in Koto Ward.
