Police suspect that two incidents that resulted in damage to property over the weekend in the Kansai area are the result of a dispute between the Yamaguchi-gumi organized crime group and its newly formed rival, reports the Yomiuri Shimbun(Mar. 20).
At around 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, police received a tip about a vehicle that had smashed into an office of the Oda-gumi, an affiliate gang of the Yamaguchi-gumi, in the Karahori shopping street in Chuo Ward.
According to Minami Police Station, the vehicle, a grey sedan, was reversed into the entrance of the building. Its occupants then fled the scene with the engine still operating. The vehicle had previously been stolen.
There were no reports of injuries to the two gang members inside the office at the time of the incident. A mailbox outside the entrance was destroyed. There was also some damage to the building.
At approximately 3:50 a.m. that same day, a routine patrol by police in Kobe’s Suma Ward found an office of a third-tier gang of the Yamaguchi-gumi to be ransacked, with a cupboard knocked over and four security camera monitors smashed.
The Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi formed following the dissolution of the Yamaguchi-gumi last summer. Police are viewing the incidents as a part of the turf war between the two gangs that has escalated in recent weeks.
Source: Tokyo Reporter Video and image: ANN
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