Thursday, 14 February 2008
Japanese ‘Yakuza’ gangsters have launched a campaign of intimidation to force a media blackout on the furore surrounding the country’s killing of dolphins and whales, it was claimed yesterday. Australian surfer Dave Rastovich attracted world headlines after he and conservationists including actress Isabel Lucas travelled to the Japanese fishing village of Taiji last year to protest at its annual dolphin kill. Rastovich, the global face of surfwear giant Billabong Australia’s environmental campaigns, said the multi-billion dollar Japanese surf industry had been experiencing the ‘heat’ for his anti-whaling activities. He said he had been told of intimidation from Yakuza thugs – the feared Japanese mafia – who had been visiting Japanese surf shops in search of the outspoken activist. ‘These are the goons from the fishing industry who are visiting surf stores intimidating people and threatening to punish them financially,’ Rastovich said.

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