Society

Kobe yakuza boss served fresh arrest warrant over gang scuffle in Kyoto

Jun 17 (Japan Times) - The head of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi gangster group was served a fresh arrest warrant Friday in connection with a scuffle at the office of a different yakuza group in Kyoto in January.

Kunio Inoue, 68, heads the breakaway group of yakuza formed in 2015 by defectors from Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's most powerful underworld group. He was previously arrested on suspicion of fraud for a mobile phone that was purchased under someone else's name on June 6.

On Friday, Kobe District Public Prosecutor's Office moved Inoue from a police station in Hyogo Prefecture, where he had been questioned over the fraud allegation, to the Kyoto Prefectural Police via a police car, without concluding the fraud case.

The Kyoto Prefectural Police meanwhile said five other yakuza, including Mitsugu Baba, 76, leader of Aizu Kotetsu-kai, a gang based in Kyoto, had been arrested.

Investigators said Inoue is suspected of ordering members of his group to incite violence against Aizu Kotetsu-kai on Jan. 11.

Infighting has been rife in Aizu Kotetsu-kai over its leadership since Baba announced his impending retirement. The group is effectively split over who should succeed Baba, with members close to Yamaguchi-gumi and Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi coming up with their own candidates.

Police are also investigating an incident last week in which a car carrying leading members of a gang under the wing of Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi was shot up in Higashiosaka, Osaka Prefecture.

Source: ANNnewsCH

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