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Osaka cops seize 1,000 marijuana plants from apartments

Police seized approximately 1,000 marijuana plants from 2 apartments in Naniwa Ward
Police seized approximately 1,000 marijuana plants from 2 apartments in Naniwa Ward

OSAKA (TR) – In two separate raids, Osaka Prefectural Police have seized approximately 1,000 marijuana plants from a pair of apartments in Naniwa Ward, reports the NHK (June 16).

On June 12, police raided one of the apartments on suspicion of violations related to the Cannabis Control Law and found approximately 800 marijuana plants. Four days later, police found a few hundred potted marijuana plants in an adjoining residence under cultivation with special lighting equipment.

An investigation is underway in which the focal point is a person known to have been coming and going at both apartments. It is believed that the two residences were being used as a base of operations for the systematic trafficking of marijuana.

Crackdown on “dangerous drugs”

According to law enforcement, the ongoing crackdown on so-called “dangerous drugs” is resulting in renewed interest in marijuana. Such drugs are composed of varying chemicals that are often able to exploit legal loopholes. Since April of 2014, the health ministry has been adding the names of prohibited compounds in order to restrict their use.

The result has been a comeback for cannabis. Arrests for violations related to the cannabis control law increased for the first time in five years in 2014.

In October of last year, police seized 500 marijuana plants under cultivation in a residence in Tondabayashi City.