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Fukuoka cops arrest yakuza top boss for murder

Hiroshi Kimura
Hiroshi Kimura
FUKUOKA (TR) – Fukuoka Prefectural Police on Friday took the acting chairman of the Kudo-kai organized crime group into custody for a shooting death that took place seven years ago, reports the Sankei Shimbun (April 24).

Officers arrested Hiroshi Kimura, 62, who is currently under prosecution in a separate crime, on murder charges in the death of Takeshi Ataka (66), another Kudo-kai member who was shot in the head and chest at his home in September of 2008.

One year after the murder, Kimura was arrested for participation in the crime. He was later released.

However, a recent investigation into the matter by Fukuoka police has unearthed new evidence, according to the Nikkei Shimbun (April 24).

Following recent arrests of key upper members of the Kudo-kai, Kimura has assumed control of the Kudo-kai. Last year, police arrested Satoru Nomura, Fumio Tanoue and Keigo Kikuchi for involvement in the murder of a fishery cooperative president in Kitakyushu in 1998 and the stabbing of a nurse in Fukuoka’s Hakata Ward two years ago.

Kimura is currently facing extortion charges in the Fukuoka District Court. He is alleged to have blackmailed the owner of a building that was used by the Kudo-kai as an office.