At the end of last year, the Kudo-kai, whose headquarters is located in Kitakyushu, had 950 members and associate members, a decrease of 400 from that of 2008.
“Strengthening of anti-organized crime activities has increasingly forced senior and mid-level members into retirement,” said a police representative.
Over each of the past six years, the combined membership of the top-five gangs in Fukuoka — with the Kudo-kai being the largest — has dropped. At the end of 2013, the total was 1,750, the lowest figure since the enactment of the Anti-Organized Crime Law in 1992.
