TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a member of a criminal syndicate over the alleged extortion of a shop in Shibuya Ward that sells marijuana-related products.
Earlier this month, Jun Kawai, a 41-year-old member of the Yamaguchi-gumi, and another unnamed suspect allegedly attempted to collect mikajimeryo, or protection money from an employee that sells cookies and other products containing the cannabis-derived ingredient CBD.
Police did not reveal whether the suspects admit to the allegations.
CBD is not illegal in Japan. However, the suspects insinuated that the business was questionable, police said.
In carrying out the alleged crime, the two suspects tried to start a feud. “There will be trouble if you did whatever you wanted in our territory,” one of them reportedly said. “You’re doing something that’s almost like evading the law.”
