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Shiga cops nab yakuza in sale of child porn DVDs

The Azuma-gumi was featured in the 2015 film 'Yakuza and the Constitution'
The Azuma-gumi was featured in the 2015 film “Yakuza and the Constitution”

OSAKA (TR) – Shiga Prefectural Police have arrested a member of an organized crime group that was the subject of a recent film over the alleged sale of DVDs containing child pornography, reports the Sankei Shimbun (May 21).

Between August of 2014 and February of this year, Junichi Tamura, a 54-year-old upper-level member of the Azuma-gumi, whose headquarters is located in Osaka’s Nishinari Ward, and seven other persons are alleged to have sold 40 DVDs containing child pornography via an Internet site.

Police also accused the suspects of selling DVDs on the site that were not properly censored, meaning genitalia is visible, as mandated by law.

Tamura, who has been charged with child pornography and the digital distribution of obscene material, and three other suspects deny the charges while the other suspects have admitted to the allegations.

As a part of the investigation, police searched the office of the Azuma-gumi and a building in Osaka and seized approximately 200,000 DVDs and personal computers.

Police suspect that the sale of the DVDs was used as a source of funds for the Azuma-gumi.

Last year, the Azuma-gumi was featured in the film “Yakuza and the Constitution,” which offers an inside look at the gang’s operations in a downtrodden area of Osaka.