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Tokyo cops bust Ikebukuro ‘legal herb’ shop for drug violations

Seitaro Yagami
Seitaro Yagami
TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Wednesday announced the bust of a specialty medicinal shop in the Ikebukuro entertainment area for violating two drug laws, reports TBS News (Mar. 13).

Officers took Seitaro Yagami, a 53-year-old with a financial interest in the shop, into custody for violating the Cannabis Control Law. Investigators discovered 11.5 grams of the illegal drug in the Bunkyo Ward home of the suspect in June of last year.

Police also slapped the 44-year-old former female manager of the shop with charges for violating the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law for the alleged sale of “legal herbs” through a Web site by promoting the products as medical supplies.

The Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare defines legal herbs to be tea leaves that have had chemical substances with similar structures to banned drugs applied.

After discovering the promotion of the legal herb sales on the Internet, officers searched the store and related premises and found the marijuana in the possession of Yagami.

Yagami has reportedly admitted to the possession allegations and to using the drug. “Somebody left it (the marijuana) in front of my apartment,” the suspect is quoted by police.