OSAKA -- Massive raids on gangster offices were launched by Osaka Prefectural Police on Oct. 13 targeting mobsters associated with the warring and Nakano-kai and Yamaguchi-gumi crime syndicates.Approximately 1,300 prefectural officers were mobilized at 200 locations in the largest operation ever launched against a yakuza syndicate in western Japan. Arrest warrants were on hand for 32 gangsters in connection with the assassination of Yamaguchi-gumi's No. 2 man in Kobe in August, and the more than 20 subsequent shootings that took place across the nation.The purpose of the raids, according to police, is to prevent the shootouts between the rival gangs from heating up, following the Buddhist funeral service to be held Oct. 14 for Masaru Takumi, who was slain in a Kobe coffee shop at the start of the ordeal.Police searched for weapons at Yamaguchi-gumi's head office in Kobe, Takumi-gumi's office in Osaka, and the residence of Taro Nakano, head of Nakano-kai, in Kyoto.
