Japan’s police say they will crack down harder on the country’s largest yakuza syndicate, the Yamaguchi-gumi, and a rival splinter group, amid continuing incidents involving the 2 across the country.
9 such incidents have occurred in 6 prefectures over the last 10 days since the National Police Agency set up a special taskforce to crack down on the groups by saying they are in a state of gang war.
The taskforce was launched in response to an escalating series of incidents involving the groups since last August, when disgruntled members of the Yamaguchi-gumi formed a new group called the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi.
Among the 9 most recent incidents, bullets were fired into a gang office in one case, what appeared to be firebombs were thrown in in 2 others, and vehicles crashed into gang offices in 3 more.
Agency chief Masahito Kanetaka said at a news conference on Thursday that police across the country are making all-out efforts to protect citizens from gang violence. He added that they are working to weaken such organizations by arresting senior members and cutting supplies of their funds.
Source and image: NHK
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