BANGKOK, Oct 26 (TNA) - Thai police on Monday arrested a Japanese tourist allegedly heading a consortium of Japanese organized crime, then he fled to a neighboring country.
Pol Lt-Gen Thanga Prasjaksattru Commissioner of Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), said 37-year-old Kimio Masa Yoshimoto, head of Yamaguchi, a Japanese crime group, was arrested in central Bangkok after the Thai authorities coordinated with the Japanese police.
Gen Thanga said Mr. Kimio a person is wanted by Japanese authorities, as it has been issued an arrest warrant in May 2006 in Osaka for the attempted murder by gunfire of three gang members in his network, wounding seriously.
He escaped to Thailand using a false passport and has lived in Thailand for about three years.
The Thai police officer said Kimio crime syndicate had transferred money to cover living expenses here, and that although the gangster has a Thai girlfriend.
Thanga Commissioner stated that Mr. Kimio was arrested twice this year by the Thai police. In January, he was picked to sing a Thai woman to give him 2 million baht in exchange for the surrender of his sex video clip. He was released on bail, but later jumped bail.
Mr. Kimio was arrested again in mid-October for possession of drugs but jumped bail a second time.
According to preliminary investigation, General Thanga said Mr. Kimio Yamaguchi admitted he is master and was a member of the band since he was 15.
Mr. Kimio, however, that a warrant of arrest in Japan, and insists that he has committed no crime as charged by the Thai authorities.
Gen Thanga said the departure of Mr. Kimio pass by Thai legal process for jumping bail on several occasions to sing. After the Thai authorities will coordinate with the Embassy of Japan in Thailand for his extradition.
