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.
