BANGKOK • A retired Japanese crime boss has been arrested in Thailand, ending more than 14 years on the run after photos of his yakuza tattoos and a missing little finger went viral..
BANGKOK • A retired Japanese crime boss has been arrested in Thailand, ending more than 14 years on the run after photos of his yakuza tattoos and a missing little finger went viral.
The fugitive, Shigeharu Shirai, 72, was arrested by a SWAT team on Wednesday in the sleepy central Thai market town of Lopburi.
Japanese authorities have called for his arrest over an alleged role in the shooting of a rival in Japan in 2003, after which he fled to Thailand, married a Thai and drifted into a seemingly peaceful retirement.
That was until a Thai local posted some photos of him playing a streetside checkers game with his intricate gang tattoos on full show and a missing little finger – yakuza members often slice off the tip of a finger to atone for an offence.
