TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 78-year-old yakuza boss and five other gang members for allegedly operating a syndicate office in close proximity to a daycare center in Itabashi Ward, reports TBS News (May 21).
Yoshiyuki Tanigawa, an executive of a subgroup affiliated with the Kohei-ikka — a powerful faction of the yakuza syndicate Sumiyoshi-kai — was arrested alongside five associates on suspicion of violating Tokyo’s Organized Crime Exclusion Ordinance.
Upon questioning, Tanigawa admitted to the allegations. “It can’t be helped if people want to call it a gang office,” he reportedly told police.
Under the metropolitan ordinance, crime syndicates are strictly prohibited from establishing or maintaining offices within 200 meters of sensitive facilities, including schools and daycare centers.
According to investigators, Tanigawa and his men flagrantly ignored the ban, setting up their gang headquarters in a condominium located just 100 meters from a local nursery school.
The illicit office was allegedly in operation from October of last year until last month.
Tokyo police have been cracking down on the Kohei-ikka in recent months. The gang acts as the underworld backing for various crimes, including drug trafficking, specialized fraud and illicit sex industry scouting.
