A tale of two kidneys: Sumiyoshi-kai head plays dealer in domestic organ trafficking case
Two kidneys, two doctors, two yakuza and one missing victim. Police are currently investigating the case of Toshinobu Horiuchi, a doctor who received a kidney transplant last July at Uwajima Tokushukai Hospital in…
Police close in on former mob boss Goto Tadamasa; Inagawa-kai splits
Tokyo Metropolitan Police tightening up investigation of Goto Tadamasa, former yakuza boss, on suspicion of murder; shots fired into his building The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is tightening up their…
Missing Organs, Missing Donors, & Yakuza Involvement in Organ Transplants: This time in Japan! (Not UCLA)
On June 24th, 2011, A doctor, a Sumiyoshi-kai gangster, a former mobster and two others were arrested on suspicion of conspiring to illegally trade a kidney and faking an adoption…
Ex-Goto-gumi member wanted for murder killed in Thailand. Dead men have no mouths. 死人に口なし
According to several sources, on April 27th, a Thai tour guide was arrested after he confessed to shooting to death one Japanese tourist and wounding another while they were trekking…
The 8th International Conference on Asian Organized Crime and Terrorism
The FBI, the DEA, and the The International Organization of Asian Crime Investigators and Specialists (IOASIS) were kind enough to invite me to speak at their 8th conference, in Las…
Yakuza members in Japan lowest since 1992 anti-organized laws went in to effect; National Police Agency announces 2010 figures
At end of 2010, the number of yakuza members in Japan, including full-members and associate members was an estimated 78,600 members, 2300 less than the year before, the lowest number…
The worst of times can bring out the best in everyone, even the yakuza.
I wrote this piece for the Daily Beast and supplied them with confidential materials to vet the article as well. I’d like to say that I’m not an advocate of…
In Tokyo, Komatsu-gumi head arrested for extortion; Yamaguchi Kodo-kai Nearing Decimation
Police arrested the head of the Yamaguchi-gumi Kodo-kai-affiliated Komatsu-gumi on January 29 under suspicion of attempted blackmail after he reportedly tried to extort money out of a company executive. Police…
One in 10 under 40 consider the yakuza "A neccessary evil" in Japan
Younger Japanese appear less likely to regard the yakuza as a menace, and one in ten of them consider Japan’s organized crime groups to be a necessary evil, a recent…
Yakuza Not Leaving The Construction Industry With A Whimper But A Bang
Yakuza are not happy being forced out of the construction industry in Japan and are responding with destructive criticism. The Tokyo City Government is expected to pass an organized crime…