AKIPRESS.COM - Thai police have arrested a Japanese yakuza boss on the run for 15 years after pictures of his tattoos went viral on Facebook, BBC reported.

Shigeharu Shirai is accused of murdering a gang rival in 2003.

The photographs of the 74-year old fugitive's elaborate yakuza tattoos were taken by a local person in Thailand unaware his identity.

When the pictures went viral they caught the attention of Japanese police who requested the man be arrested.

According to Thai police, he admitted he was a member of a yakuza gang but did not confess to the 2003 murder. He fled Japan for Thailand in 2005.

Police arrested him in the town of Lopburi north of Bangkok for visa violations and he will be extradited to Japan to face the murder charges against him.