Thai police are seeking Japanese murder suspects who fled to Laos.

Thai police are seeking Japanese murder suspects who fled to Laos.

 Takuya Kato, 49, and Hiroto Suzuki, 33, who are wanted by Thai authorities, fled to Thakhek, Khammouane Province, Laos, via Thailand's Nakhon Phanom province. NONTHABURI – Since the two Japanese suspects fled the country, the horrifying case of Yakuza gang members coming to kill a member and dismember his body in Thailand has remained unexplained. 

Pol. Lt. Gen. Jirasan Kaewsaeng-aek, Commander of Provincial Police Region 1, revealed the murder case of Mr Kabashima Ryosuke, 47, a Japanese national, in Bang Bua Thong District, Nonthaburi Province, after it was discovered that Mr Takuya Kato, 50, who called himself "Boss," and Mr Hiroto Suzuki, 33, both suspects of Japanese nationality, had fled the country through a natural.

The police believe the two suspects are presently on the run in neighbouring countries, thus Pol. Lt. Gen. Jirasan has already sent police personnel to share information with the authorities in neighbouring countries to bring them back to Thailand.

Initially, no one was identified to have assisted two Japanese men in fleeing the country. The driver who drove the two men to Nakhon Phanom, bordering Thakhek, Khammouane Province, Laos, told police that on April 22, an acquaintance contacted him and hired him for 12,000 baht to pick up two foreigners from Vibhavadi Road 19 in Bangkok and deliver them to Nakhon Phanom Province.

They arrived in Nakhon Phanom Province at 8:00 a.m. on April 23, and another vehicle drove to pick up the two men. However, he had no idea where they had gone. When he returned to Bangkok, he discovered that the two were suspected of murdering a Japanese man.

According to the inquiry, the deceased, Mr. Kabashima Ryosuke, 47, had a conflict of interest with a Yakuza group in Japan about the cryptocurrency business, secretly taking advantage of the money for personal use and failing to return before travelling to Thailand.

A Yakuza gang in Japan contacted Kato, the main leader who had escaped an arrest warrant in Japan and fled to Thailand, and Suzuki, who has just arrived in Thailand, to find Ryosuke and punish him in accordance with Yakuza rules in order to set an example for other members not to betray or be dishonest with the gang. Kato shot Ryosuke to death in the car on March 28.

Kato hired Thai driver Kritsakorn Jaipitak, or Game, aged 33, to rent an empty warehouse, purchase tools for dismembering a body, and use three cars in rotation to conceal the murder. The first discovery of the body parts occurred on April 19.

Game is charged with “conspiring to conceal or destroy corpses and concealing the cause of death,” and the police have already asked the court to issue a full arrest order for two Japanese suspects.

The Nonthaburi Provincial Court has decided not to give Game bail due to the appalling nature of the crime and the suspect’s direct involvement. The authorities apprehended him and sent him to Nonthaburi Provincial Prison.

The Nonthaburi Provincial Court has decided not to give Game bail on April 25, 2024.