A rift has emerged in Japan’s largest yakuza organized crime syndicate, the government said on Friday, with police warning that the split could lead to a wave of gang violence.
Like the Italian mafia and Chinese triads, the yakuza engage in everything from gambling, drugs and prostitution to loan sharking, protection rackets and white-collar crime.
However, unlike their foreign counterparts, they are not illegal and each of the designated groups has its own headquarters.
“The government is aware that some member factions of the Yamaguchi-gumi, regarded as Japan’s biggest crime syndicate, are showing moves toward secession,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said.
“Police are working to collect information. We hope police will use this opportunity to take measures to weaken the organization,” Suga said.
The syndicate boasts 23,000 members and associates.
Periodic crackdowns and police efforts to choke off the Yamaguchi-gumi’s sources of funding have gained momentum, while a poor public image and Japan’s flaccid economy have made life difficult for the gangsters and made membership less attractive for potential recruits, experts said.
Local reports said the Yamaguchi-gumi kicked out 13 leaders of its member factions and that 11 were moving to form a new group, which could ally with other mobsters to build a new syndicate, the Mainichi Shimbun said.
Police were on high alert expecting inter-gang conflict to turn violent, the Kyodo news agency said.
Japan’s National Police Agency is scheduled to hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss the latest developments surrounding the yakuza rift, the Nikkei newspaper said.
Japanese police officials could not be reached for comment yesterday.
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