HYOGO (TR) – A chaotic scene developed at a railway station in Kobe on Monday as the top boss of the Yamaguchi-gumi was heckled by members of a rival syndicate, an incident that law enforcement is viewing as part of an ongoing dispute between the two gangs, reports Fuji News Network (Sept. 5).
At 10:40 a.m., members of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi were held back by officers from the Hyogo Prefectural Police as they shouted at Shinobu Tsukasa, attired in sunglasses and light purple blazer, after he passed through a ticket gate at Shin-Kobe Station. While holding white sheets of cardboard and pens, the gangsters screamed at the boss, “Give me your autograph!”
In August of last year, 13 affiliate gangs of the Yamaguchi-gumi, the nation’s biggest criminal syndicate, left the organization. The renegade gangs subsequently formed the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi with the Yamaken-gumi, led by Kunio Inoue, as its key affiliate gang. A turf war that has included shootings and car ramming incidents then developed between the clans.
An investigative source told the Mainichi Broadcasting System (Sept. 5) that the incident at the station on Monday was directly connected to the split.
“The Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi wanted to show off the fact that they have not imploded in the year since the split,” said the source.
Prior to Tsukasa’s arrival, officers, wearing bulletproof vests, initiated patrols inside the station and performed body searches of the members of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi.
Tsukasa was using the station to attend the Yamaguchi-gumi’s regular monthly meeting at its headquarters in Nada Ward.
