Police Raid Japanese Crime Gang’s Offices After Underground Slots Center Bust

Police in Aichi Prefecture have raided an office building they think served as a slots center operating hub for a notorious Japanese crime gang.

Detectives say the offices belong to Inagawa-kai, one of Japan’s three biggest yakuza syndicates. The gang has an estimated 1,600 members and is based primarily in the Tokyo-Yokohama area.

Investigators say it was founded in 1949 and typically engages in gambling, drug trafficking, blackmail, and extortion-related crimes.

Heavily armed police raided the office in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, along with local law enforcers. The slot machine gambling parlor in question operated in Sakae, Nagoya.

Japanese Crime Gang: Police Target Gambling Operations

Nagoya is the capital of Aichi Prefecture and its largest city. The slots center, named Royal, operated in Sakae until a police raid in April 2025.

Aichi police officers said they arrested three people, including an individual named Masato Hori (aged 39). Hori, officers said, acted as the group’s leader. The trio was arrested on gambling-related charges.

Police said they had evidence that Hori and his subordinates also operated slot machine parlors in at least four other locations in Aichi. These parlors helped them generate profits of “at least” 28 million yen, worth over $177,000, officers said.

Police said their investigation is ongoing, the Japanese media outlet FNN reported.

Habitual Gambling Wrap

Officers said the trio may be charged with encouraging habitual gambling.

A spokesperson for the police force said detectives suspect that the group used a portion of the revenue from the slots centers to fund the Inagawa-kai gang’s other criminal operations.

Police in both Kanagawa and Aichi say they are stepping up their efforts to crack down on Inagawa-kai’s criminal activities.

Officers in Yokohama said they arrested two male members of the gang, aged 44 and 33, for allegedly trafficking banned substances in the city’s Tsurumi Ward.

Police said they caught the men selling the unnamed stimulants to a 45-year-old Filipino man in the parking lot of a hardware store.

Officers say the men began using the parking lot to conduct drug deals in December last year.

A police spokesperson said officers will not disclose details of the men’s statement to investigators, citing concerns that this might hinder their investigation. The spokesperson said the investigation is still active, the Japanese broadcaster tvK reported.

Aichi Prefecture is keen to clamp down on illegal gambling operators as it prepares to submit a bid to build an integrated casino-resort.

The Japanese government wants to let its regions build three integrated casino resorts in the years ahead.

So far, Tokyo has approved only one IR project, tentatively named MGM Osaka. Operators say the MGM Osaka will open its doors to the public in 2030.