US takes aim at Yakuza crime syndicate newcomer

financial systems from the malign influence” of transnational criminal organizations, senior Treasury official John Smith said in a statement.

Treasury sanctioned the breakaway Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi crime syndicate, which formed in September 2015 when 13 subsidiary gangs, split from their parent syndicate, the Yamaguchi-gumi, to form their own Yakuza group.

The new group took about 30 percent of Yamaguchi-gumi membership, and now has roughly 7,000 members.

The split sparked a turf war in Japan where the groups have traded molotov cocktails, according to news reports.

Treasury had already sanctioned the Yamaguchi-gumi in February 2012, and this action brings the total of Yakuza targeted by sanctions to 17 individuals and seven entities.

Treasury says the Yakuza has relationships with criminal affiliates in Asia, Europe and the Americas, where it uses front companies in legitimate industries, including construction, real estate, and finance, to launder money and hide illicit proceeds. (AFP)