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Tokyo cops: Yakuza provided pistols to fellow gangster who ran drug trafficking ring

Yasunori Hosho
Yasunori Hosho of the Sumiyoshi-kai (TV Asahi)

TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested an organized crime member for allegedly providing pistols to a fellow gangster in custody for running a drug trafficking ring, reports TV Asahi (Nov. 14).

In May of last year, Yasunori Hosho, a 48-year-old member of the Sumiyoshi-kai, allegedly passed two revolvers and one automatic pistol to Eiichi Kamio, the 63-year-old boss within the same gang, in exchange for 800,000 yen inside a parking lot in Itabashi Ward.

Yasumasa, who has been accused of money-making activities under the Swords and Firearms Control Law, has declined to comment on the allegations, police said.

According to a previous report, Kamio was arrested in September after he was found to have 630 grams of kakuseizai, or stimulant drugs, and 360 grams of marijuana inside a motorcycle parked in front of an apartment building in the town of Kusatsu, Gunma Prefecture.

Of those pistols found in the possession of Kamio, three were provided by Yasumasa, police said.

Drug trafficking

Kamio is the boss of the Kamio-gumi, which as of last year had 25 members. The gang regularly deals stimulant drugs, police said.

At the time of the bust, it is believed that Kamio was in the process of handing the contraband over to subordinate members for the purpose of trafficking.

The arrest of Yasumasa for passing a firearm to a fellow gangster is the first of its kind nationwide, police said.