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Toyama cops raid yakuza offices over finger-cutting incident

Police raided offices of the Haga-gumi in Toyama City last week
Police raided offices of the Haga-gumi in Toyama City last week (TV Asahi)

TOYAMA (TR) – Toyama Prefectural Police on Thursday searched gang offices in Ishikawa and Fukui prefectures over an incident in which Yamaguchi-gumi gangsters abducted a rival boss and cut off one of his fingers, reports the Sankei Shimbun (May 26).

Beginning at approximately 8:00 a.m., 70 investigators raided a total of four gang offices, including that of the Takimoto-gumi in Kanazawa City, Ishikawa and the Yoshida-gumi in Fukui City, Fukui, in search of evidence in the case. The residences of upper-level members of the gangs were also searched.

Last week, police arrested Koshin Odake, the 69-year-old boss of the Haga-gumi, and other gangsters for allegedly kidnapping the top boss of the Takada-gumi on March 15. During the incident, which extended over three weeks, the suspects beat the Takada-gumi boss and cut off one of his fingers. Police also searched the offices of the Haga-gumi.

In the world of organized crime, the finger-cutting custom — known as yubitsume — is a deep-rooted act to show responsibility for a transgression. In this case, the issue was a decision on the part of the Takada-gumi to defect from under the Yamaguchi-gumi to the rival Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi.

Earlier this month, police announced the dissolution of the Takada-gumi, whose headquarters was in Toyama City.

The gangs whose offices were searched and the Haga-gumi all fall under the umbrella of the Yamaguchi-gumi’s Hajime-kai, whose headquarters is located in Osaka’s Kita Ward.