KANAGAWA (TR) – With the number of violent incidents involving the Yamaguchi-gumi organized crime group on the rise, Kanagawa Prefectural Police on Friday raided offices connected to the gang in Atsugi City as a part of a fraud investigation, reports Nippon News Network (April 1).
Police searched two offices in search of evidence related to a contract for a smartphone illegally obtained by Tetsuya Kimiwada, a 50-year-old member of the Kodo-kai, an affiliate gang of the Yamaguchi-gumi.
In October of last year, the suspect allegedly used the name of an acquaintance, Katsumi Saito, a 41-year-old company employee, in arranging the contract at a shop in Yokohama.
One of the offices searched by police was rammed by a two-ton truck in February in what police suspect is connected to an ongoing dispute over turf between the Yamaguchi-gumi and its newly formed rival, the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi.
Since the middle of February, the number of violent incidents between the two gangs has escalated. Police have been performing intelligence-gathering raids in order to predict future gang activities.
