The Moment Narcotics Officers Froze During a Yakuza Office Raid
Case Files of a Narcotics G-man (Part 1)
From stimulants to marijuana to dangerous drugs. Ryoji Takahama, 77, who has been on the front lines of drug control for 36 years as a “Matri,” or narcotics control officer, tells the second installment of his short series of stories from the frontlines of drug control in the 1980s. In those days, many methamphetamine transactions involved gangsters. He says he experienced chills down his spine at the scene of raids and investigative seizures at gang offices. Two such episodes are introduced here.
The dealer’s “supplier” was a wide-area crime syndicate.
In April 1981 (when he was with the Kinki District Narcotics Control Office, Investigation Section 2), a coffee shop owner and former gang member was arrested by the police.
We received information that X, a coffee shop owner and former gang member in his 50s, was trafficking methamphetamine from his mistress’s house in Osaka City, etc. While we were monitoring X’s movements by staking out and tailing him, we came across a scene where he was obtaining methamphetamine in Kyoto City. After tailing the other party, he returned to the office of the A-gumi, a broad-based gang in the same city. The line between the gang and the former gang member was connected. Under the policy that “the next time X moves to obtain methamphetamine, we will seize him when he returns home,” we thoroughly monitored his movements day and night, and were finally able to capture the moment.
When X returned from a transaction, we stopped him as he got out of his car, showed him our warrant, and searched his belongings, finding a bag of methamphetamine in a plastic bag with a zipper, weighing approximately 235 grams. He was arrested on the spot and the methamphetamine was seized. During a subsequent search of the house, we found and seized more than a dozen packets of methamphetamine in small plastic bags taped to the back of a Japanese-style dresser drawer, weighing about 15 g. X did not give any statement as to where he obtained the drugs, but gave a full account of his trafficking activities.
Although we did not obtain a statement, the tailing team’s report indicated that the source was Group A. We immediately went to the A-gumi’s office. We parked the light van my father used for work nearby and staked out the area mainly at night from inside the van. However, not much movement was seen, so we decided to take the plunge and conduct a search of the office.
During the search, we found a bag of methamphetamine in a zippered plastic bag, weighing approximately 10 g, stuck under the sink in the kitchen of the union office.There are three brothers in the A clan, with the clan leader as the eldest, and the second son in his 30s, who was watching the search, said to the leader and third son, “This time I’m leaving. The second son, who was in his thirties, admitted to possessing methamphetamine , saying, “It’s mine,” and was taken away.
The gang leader denied involvement.
I was in charge of the second son’s interrogation. During the process, I thought, “The second son is not used to the world and is a good human being. I still remember that it was very easy to conduct the interrogation. I also thought that it would not have been so easy if it had been the third son, who was full of murderous intent, that I had met at the gang office.
However, the second son refused to admit that he possessed the property for profit, and refused to acknowledge the fact that he had transferred the property to and from X. So, I came up with a plan. So I came up with a plan. On the first day of the post-detention interview, without saying a word, I placed X’s picture and a large zipper of methamphetamine I had confiscated from X on a steel desk. I wanted him to think that I knew everything about Matri.
The second son then began to give a full account of his dealings with X. However, he stubbornly refused to admit the involvement of his boss, insisting that he had done the deal on his own.
In parallel, when I told X that his second son had started to make a statement, X also started to make a statement outlining the transaction, but again denied the involvement of the boss.
I prepared a statement that did not mention the involvement of the union leader, and first solidified the suspicion that X and his second son were involved in the transfer/assignment. In discussions with the prosecutor in charge of the case, we came to the conclusion that the gang leader was definitely involved.
We decided to raid the A-gumi’s office with a total of 20 people, including members of the Section 2 team and a support team.
During the raid, I felt I was in danger.
During the search, the gang leader suddenly went up to the second floor of the office. I hurried after him, but none of the enforcement officers were following me. I was chilled to the bone.
In cases like this, it is not uncommon for gang members to lash out and attack in anger. A momentary lapse can be fatal. I knew that some of the enforcement officers did not want to approach the gang members because they knew how dangerous they were …… and why no one was following them, but thanks to them I had no choice but to confront a tough situation.
As soon as I followed the gang leader upstairs, a fake sword came into view. If the gang leader had stabbed me in the stomach with a fake sword, it would have been the end of the story. Fortunately, the gang leader only went upstairs to get his personal belongings, but I was horrified at the thought of what might have happened. Tragedies can happen unexpectedly. ……
Brother, will you do it?”
When I arrested the boss for conspiring with his second son to transfer methamphetamine to X, he angrily told me, “You’ve done a dirty job. He must have thought that we had fabricated a false statement.
Then the third son glared at me and whispered, “Do you want to do it, brother? “Brother, do you want to do it? I was so calm that I did not even change my facial expression.
Seeing my third son, who remained calm and did not change his expression, I braced myself, thinking, “This guy would stab me. However, as expected, the head of the clan did not want me to attack at the search scene and remained silent.
After that, we were able to get a statement from the clan leader that was in line with the second son’s statement, and the case came to a close.
