US Sanctions Two Japanese 'Yakuza' Crime Groups, Three Key Members

The United States has sanctioned three individuals and two entities that are part of Japanese criminal gangs, or yakuza, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said in a press release on Friday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Yakuza are Japan-based organized crime syndicates involved in money laundering, trafficking and other criminal activities.

"OFAC designated two entities and three individuals: the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, three of its key executive members — Kunio Inoue, Osamu Teraoka and Takashi Ikeda — and its core clan, the Yamaken-gumi," the release stated.

OFAC explained that the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi group was formed in September 2015 by the Yamaken-gumi clan and 13 other gangs. The Yamaken-gumi is the largest of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi affiliates.

Additionally, the groups have relationships with criminal gangs in Asia, Europe and the Americas, including in the United States, the release noted.

The sanctions freeze any of the individuals’ or groups’ assets under US jurisdiction and generally prohibit US persons from doing business with them.