Yamaguchi-gumi, Sumiyoshi-kai offices raided over Tokyo shooting incidents

TOKYO (TR) – Following three recent shooting incidents suspected to involve the Yamaguchi-gumi and Sumiyoshi-kai organized crime groups, Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Friday raided multiple offices of both gangs, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Dec. 28).

Officers from the anti-organized crime division searched 10 locations of the both yakuza groups, including premises in Tokyo’s Suginami Ward and Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, where the Yamaguchi-gumi headquarters is located, on suspicion of violating the Swords and Firearms Control Law.

At around 5:50 a.m. on December 19, police received a phone call from regarding a shooting incident at an office of the Sumiyoshi-kai yakuza group in the Kichijoji area of Musashino City. Three bullet holes were later discovered at the building’s entrance and in the windshield of a car in a parking lot.

About six hours later, an officer from the Shinjuku Police Station found two bullet holes in the door of the second-floor entryway of an office used by affiliates of the Yamaguchi-gumi organized crime syndicate in the Kabukicho red-light district.

According to police, the events are related and go back to a dispute between members of the gangs in Kabukicho on December 10.

Investigators also believe that the shooting on December 17 of an 86-year-old male outside an office of the Sumiyoshi-kai in Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture is also connected to the dispute. The victim suffered serious injuries to his hand and stomach. A bullet cartridge was found in the nearby area.

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