Surrounded by 20-30 Gang Members: The Harrowing Escape of a Narcotics Officer

In the 1980s, Ryoji Takahama, a former narcotics control officer, spent his days conducting drug investigations against gangsters. He says that he sometimes felt chills down his spine as he continued his investigations against the cutthroat yakuza without taking a single step back. In the second part of this article, we will introduce the episode when he was surrounded by a large number of yakuza during the search.

In Part I, a narcotics officer said in a calm tone, “Do you want to do it, brother?

Seven narcotics officers “raid” a crime syndicate office.

October 1989 (during the time of the Yokohama Branch Office of the Kanto Shinetsu District Narcotics Control Officer’s Office)
Based on information that a gang leader in Koto-ku, Tokyo was involved in methamphetamine trafficking, seven enforcement officers, including myself, conducted a search of the gang’s office at around 7:00 pm. The search began in the presence of the gang leader, who was the only person in the office.

During the search, I always try to check the movements of suspects. On that occasion, as usual, I sat down on the couch facing the reception set in order to monitor the eye movement and behavior of the gang leader. I checked the ashtray and cups on the glass table in front of me. I reached for a box of tissue paper and opened it from both sides.

The leader of the group showed no signs of agitation. He pulled a tissue from the box and examined them one by one, when a plastic bag with a zipper came out from the middle of the box. I guessed it was about 50 grams of methamphetamine and asked him if it was shabu, to which he replied , “Yes. It turned out to be as much as he had expected. Realizing that there was no escape, the head of the clan offered to invite the young head (young head, the eldest son in terms of family structure) to this meeting to discuss the future management of the clan.

After about 30 minutes, he showed up. I guessed there were 20 to 30 people in the office.

In a state of extreme tension.

There were seven of us, including myself. If we were about to take the leader of the gang and we were surrounded and attacked by such a large number of gang members, there would be no way to stop them. The leader would be recaptured. Fearing this, I requested the Kanto Shinetsu District Narcotics Control Office to dispatch backup. However, it was past eight in the afternoon. Almost all the DEA officers had left the office.

Even so, I asked them to gather backup as soon as possible, but time just kept passing in vain. I decided to take the gang leader to the Yokohama Branch Office without waiting for backup. I told the gang leader and young boss , “If any gang member tries to interfere, we will conduct thorough arrests and destroy the gang.

He feigned calm because he knew that if he showed even the slightest sign of weakness, he would be beaten, but inwardly he was on edge. Fortunately, the head of the clan and the young head told the gang members to “be careful.

I went outside with the boss, weaving my way through the gang members who had gathered in front of the entrance. Fortunately, no one disobeyed the young bosses’ orders, and we made it safely to the official car. It was extremely tense and chilling until we got into the car. If the bouncing gang members had attacked us, we would have all been beaten to a pulp on the spot. It was an arresting experience that I will never forget.