Yakuza boss arrested in Thailand

Fugitive Japanese gangster caught in Lop Buri

Photos of Shineharu Shirai, 74, a Japanese yakuza boss, are seen on a Facebook page in August last year, before he was caught in Lop Buri.
Photos of Shineharu Shirai, 74, a Japanese yakuza boss, are seen on a Facebook page in August last year, before he was caught in Lop Buri.

A Japanese yakuza boss has been arrested for the murder of a rival criminal gangster in Muang district, Lop Buri, after 14 years on the run.

A combined team of Interpol, local and immigration police detained Shineharu Shirai, 74, in tambon Tha Hin of Muang district on Wednesday while he was out walking to buy food.

Mr Shirai is a fugitive wanted by Japanese authorities for colluding with seven other gang members in the murder of a key member of a rival yakuza criminal syndicate in July 2003. After the crime, he fled Japan and until recently his whereabouts remained unknown.

Then Japanese authorities obtained information that he was hiding out in Thailand and had a Thai wife. They sought help from the Royal Thai Police in tracking down the suspect.

Police finally found him in Lop Buri, which led to his arrest.

The suspect has intricate tattoos all over his body and is missing the little finger on his left hand - both signs of his yakuza membership.

Pol Col Ukrit Pooklan, deputy chief of Lop Buri police, said further details would be released later.

Mr Shirai is believed to be a leader of the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan’s largest yakuza syndicate.

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Vocabulary

  • collude: to act together secretly or illegally in order to deceive or cheat someone - สมรู้ร่วมคิด
  • detain: to keep someone in a police station or prison and not allow them to leave - กักตัว ควบคุมตัวหรือฝากขัง
  • flee (past form: fled) (verb): to leave a place or person quickly because you are afraid of possible danger or consequences - หนี
  • fugitive (noun): someone who has been accused of doing something illegal and is trying to avoid being caught by the police - ผู้หลบหนี
  • intricate (adj.): having a lot of different parts and small details that fit together - ที่ซับซ้อน, อย่างประณีต
  • rival: a person you are competing against or opposing - คู่แข่ง
  • sought (past tense of seek): tried to get/do something; asked for something - พยายามได้, พยายามได้มา
  • syndicate: a group of people or companies who work together and help each other in order to achieve a particular aim - สมาคม, องค์การ, สหการ , การรวมกลุ่มเป็นสมาคม
  • whereabouts: where someone is -
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