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Yoshitomi Hideaki is a yakuza and founder of the Yoshitomi Group, it is assumed that he is the current Kumicho or Crime Boss of the criminal organization. Yakuza career Little is known about him, however it is to be noted that he is a friend of Yoshinori Watanabe and during the Kobe earthquake, founded the Yoshitomi Group or Yoshitomi-gumi in association with the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's largest yakuza criminal group. According to the documentations from the Yamaguchi-gumi, Yoshitomi Hideaki currently resides in the United States as an overseas operation for the Yamaguchi-gumi. The Yoshitomi-gumi also has befriended local Hmong natives, most notorious is the Menace of Destruction street gang, the current Wakashigara or First Lieutenant is assumed to be of Hmong descent. The Yoshitomi-gumi has ties with the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel and the Los Zetas, also with street gangs such as the Bloods and Latin Kings, because of this alliance, they are rivaled with the Crips and other gangs not affiliated with or compete against their operations. They have been noted for a suspected contract assassination of three Aryan Brotherhood gang members in Austin, Texas. It is rumored that the Yoshitomi-gumi is seeking territory in Miami, Florida to take advantage of the drug trade, they are also reported to have attempted to gain entry into Detroit, Michigan but was ordered to halt by the Yamaguchi-gumi as its partners were present during the North American International Auto Show, the Chicago-based faction is still attempting to gain access into Detroit but is struggling a contract with the Detroit Partnership. Conflicts On March 4, 2011, an elite member of the "Yoshitomi-gumi", along with a few associates, beat and shot a member of the Asian Crips (AC) outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin, after a failed robbery attempt. The incident occurred when three members of the AC unknowingly approached two other Asian men who walked out of a buffet and one of them was still holding his wallet and demanded cash; witnesses say that one of the men was putting a lot of cash into his wallet before encountering the three gunmen. One of the gang members took out what was thought to have been a pistol and wielded it towards the two men; the weapon recovered at the crime scene was an empty BB gun that had the orange tip removed and spray-painted black; witnesses described that the three men were wearing blue bandannas and when asked by the two men, they repeatedly stated that they are members of the local "Asian Crip" Hmong gang. One of the two men complied and raised his hands, many witnesses who saw the scene then took cover behind cars, while the other man who had the wallet didn't comply even though the gang members threatened to shoot him. As yelling continued, the man then stated that if the gang members did not step down they all would face a major threat, it was witnesses who overheard the man say that the "Yoshitomi-gumi" would go to war with them if they did not walk away. Here, the tables were turned as the man pulled out his own weapon and pointed it at the three gang members. The three gang members complied as the man ordered them to get on their knees, the man then hit two of them with the end of his pistol and shot the third gang member who had the fake pistol. The two men then recklessly fled the scene as witnesses called 9-1-1. According to the Milwaukee Police Special Task Unit, the reason the gang member was shot was that it was probably to send a warning to the low-ranking gang. On March 8, 2011, Yoshitomi Hideaki, with approval and association with the Yamaguchi-gumi, declared that all Yoshitomi-gumi affiliates in the mid-western United States are at war with the street gangs controlling the drug and weapons trade, the Latin Kings of Chicago and the Kawagi-gumi, a faction of the Yoshitomi-gumi through an unknown crime lieutenant, is currently involved, according to the associated members of the Yamaguchi-gumi. On March 11, 2011, a high official of the Yoshitomi-gumi was killed during the 2011 Tohoku earthquake a few miles outside Tokyo while driving inside his vehicle along about six others. Tokyo Metropolitan Police confirmed the death as a result of the tsunami hitting the vehicle into buildings and collided with other larger vehicles that had crushed it, killing all inside except for a two survivors. They both were escorted to safety but later arrested on weapons charges. The Yamaguchi-gumi, along with many other yakuza groups, have organized may rescue operations in the effort of helping those in need; many members of the Yoshitomi-gumi have traveled to Japan to help with this support.
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