US slaps sanctions on Japan's organized crime group
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E-mail China.org.cn, February 27, 2012
The U.S. Treasury Department Thursday imposed sanctions on Japan's largest organized crime group Yakuza.
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Top leader of the Yamaguchi-gumi, Kenichi Shinoda |
The Yamaguchi-gumi is the largest and most prominent of the Yakuza's crime families.
The sanctions targeted two leaders of the Yamaguchi-gumi, Kenichi Shinoda and Kiyoshi Takayama.
Treasury Department said in an statement on Thursday that it will freeze the assets of Kenichi Shinoda and Kiyoshi Takayama in the United States and ban them from doing business with Americans.
"Today's action casts a spotlight on key members of criminal organizations that have engaged in a wide range of serious crimes across the globe," said David S. Cohen, Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.
"We will continue to work with our international partners to target those who deal in violence, narcotics, money laundering, and the exploitation of women and children," David said.
"Today's designations are just the first under our new our sanctions authority to target transnational criminal organizations and isolate them from the global financial system," David continued.
The action is designed to "protect the integrity of the U.S. financial system, to prevent U.S. financial institutions from being used unwittingly to facilitate the unlawful activities of these groups, and to deny the named individuals and entity access to the U.S. economy," said the statement.
The yakuza gangs, which boast about 80,000 members, have deep historical roots in Japan and have operated for more than a century.
The Yakuza is involved in serious criminal activities, including weapons trafficking, prostitution, human trafficking, drug trafficking, fraud and money laundering.
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