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Fukui cops nab yakuza in gambling bust

Police seized 8 machines that utilized hanafuda cards
Police seized 8 machines that utilized hanafuda cards

FUKUI (TR) – Fukui Prefectural Police on Thursday announced the bust of coffee shop Fukui City for allowing customers to place wagers on a traditional card game, the Fukui Shimbun (Nov. 20).

On October 24, officers raided Cafe Tyrol, located in Chuo area, and arrested manager Yasuhide Urushizaki, 43, and one 64-year-old female employee for providing illegal gambling.

Police also seized one pachisuro (pachinko slot) machine and eight table games that feature traditional hanafuda cards, whose faces are adorned with natural motifs.

Later in October, police arrested three more employees of the shop and a 45-year-female customer. On Wednesday, police arrested Masaki Ueno, a member of the Yamaguchi-gumi organized crime group who is believed to be the effective manager of the operation.

Since opening in June of last year, the shop has collected 70 million yen in revenue. A portion of the revenue is believed to have been funneled to the Yamaguchi-gumi.

According to police, the shop was registered in the name of a person other than the manager as a fuzoku (or sex-related) parlor.

On Thursday, police raided an office of the Yamaguchi-gumi as a part of the investigation into the case.