The police identified the fugitive Yakuza killer after seeing his photos on Facebook

A former Yakuza who has been hiding from justice for more than 14 years has been arrested in Thailand. 72-year-old Shigeharu Shirai was detained by a task force at a local market in the Thai city of Lopburi while shopping. The fugitive left Japan in 2003 after, as the leader of a criminal gang, he killed his competitor.

All this time, he lived with his wife out of sight of the police, despite a joint investigation by the Thai Immigration Bureau and the Japanese Interpol. It was possible to catch Shigehara Shirai thanks to a blind chance — a local resident posted on Facebook pictures of a miniature and fragile-looking pensioner playing checkers on the street. This old man turned out to be the former leader of a criminal gang.

Source: Daily Mail

The author signed the photo as follows: "Uncle, you are my idol. When I grow up, will I look like you?" The former Yakuza was given tattoos characteristic of the Japanese mafia, and the missing phalanx of the little finger. Mafia members strictly observe the code, for violation of which there is an imminent punishment, and cutting off the phalanx of a finger is part of the ritual of atonement.

The publication was shared more than 100 thousand times, and it attracted the attention of the Japanese police, who immediately contacted the Thai authorities.

"The suspect admitted that he was the leader of a Yakuza group called Kodokai," Thai police said. Shigeharu Shirai was charged with the murder of the leader of another group, for which the rest of his gang members had already been caught and sentenced to prison. The suspect did not confess to the murder.

After escaping to Thailand, Shigeharu first lived in hotels or with friends, hiding from the police. Then he ran out of money and had to spend the night in parks. Two or three times a year he received a certain amount of money from intermediaries.

The former Yakuza is being extradited to Japan for trial.