Yakuza boss, 74, arrested after photo of tattoos go viral

A SEVENTY-four-year-old Japanese man accused of a gang murder in Japan 15 years ago has been arrested in Thailand after pictures of his Yakuza tattoos went viral on social media.

Shigeharu Shirai was arrested on Wednesday evening in Lopburi province. He is accused of being one of eight gangsters involved in the murder of another gang leader in 2003. The other seven have been arrested but Shirai escaped to Thailand in 2005.

Thai police said he had confessed to being part of the Yamaguchi-gumi gang within Japan’s Yakuza, but not to murder.

Shirai will be charged with illegally entering Thailand and then deported to Japan to face the murder charges.