TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested four men, including a member of a yakuza syndicate, for allegedly kidnapping a 51-year-old man and threatening him with forced labor on an overseas fishing vessel to settle a financial dispute, reports TBS News (July 6).
The suspects include 25-year-old Teruto Yamao, a member of a gang affiliated with the Sumiyoshi-kai, alongside Suguru Nakao, 42, Ryuji Ishimaru, 62, and Takehiro Nakamura, 61. They are facing charges of kidnapping for the purpose of transferring a person out of the country.
According to police, the incident occurred in late June of last year in Shinjuku Ward’s Kabukicho nightlife district. The suspects allegedly cornered the victim over a dispute and delivered a grim ultimatum: “Choose from three options: Get on a tuna fishing boat. Get on a crab fishing boat. Or be killed by us right here. Pay the 5 million yen.”
The police have not disclosed whether the four suspects have admitted to the allegations.
Investigators say Yamao masterminded the operation, directing the other three men to physically abduct the victim.
After kidnapping the man, the group allegedly forced him to draft a sworn pledge at his home stating, “I will work overseas until my debt is repaid.” They then attempted to force the victim to apply for a passport to facilitate his removal from Japan.
Yamao is already known to authorities for similar schemes. He has been arrested on two prior occasions for allegedly kidnapping men from Kabukicho’s notorious “Toyoko” hangout area — known as a gathering spot for delinquents and runaways — with the intent of shipping them overseas for forced labor.
