Yakuza murder suspect to be deported on Thursday

Yakuza murder suspect to be deported on Thursday

Police look at Shigeharu Shirai's tattoos at Muang police station in Lop Buri after the Yakuza gang member was arrested on Jan 10, 2018. (Photo by Pornprom Satrabhaya)
Police look at Shigeharu Shirai's tattoos at Muang police station in Lop Buri after the Yakuza gang member was arrested on Jan 10, 2018. (Photo by Pornprom Satrabhaya)

Senior Yakuza gang member Shigeharu Shirai will be deported to Japan on Thursday following his detention at the Immigration Bureau, a senior police officer said on Wednesday.

Deputy Royal Thai Police chief Pol Gen Wirachai Songmetta said Mr Shirai will be released from the bureau prison and placed on a flight to Japan on Thursday, the FM91 traffic police website reported.

The member of the Yamaguchi-gumi yakuza gang is serving a jail term for overstaying in Thailand and entering the country illegally.

The 72-year-old was arrested in Lop Buri on Jan 10 on charges of allegedly colluding with seven other gang members in the murder of a key member of a rival Yakuza criminal syndicate in 2003. The other seven were arrested, but Mr Shirai escaped to Thailand in 2005. He had a Thai wife.

Japanese police had contacted their Thai counterparts to hunt him. Police mapped out a plan to arrest him after photos showing him with chess players were posted on Facebook in August by a man who admired his intricate tattoos.


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