A 40-year-old man wanted for allegedly assisting the escape of a top-ranking leader of the Yamaguchi-gumi crime syndicate died after collapsing in front of JR Tokyo Station early Tuesday, police said.
Hiroaki Ono, whose address and occupation are not known, was being hunted by the Osaka Prefectural Police on suspicion of harboring 66-year-old Takashi Takizawa, who is currently on trial for violating the Firearm and Sword Control Law.
According to the Marunouchi station of the Metropolitan Police Department, Ono collapsed on a sidewalk in front of the Yaesu Chuo exit of Tokyo Station around 3 a.m. Tuesday.
He was confirmed dead after being taken to a nearby hospital.
There were no signs of external injury and the MPD was trying to determine the cause of death, police officials said.
Takizawa, head of a Yamaguchi-gumi affiliate and one of the top leaders of the nation's largest crime syndicate, is on trial for having his bodyguard carry two handguns and 20 bullets during his stay at an Osaka hotel in 1997.