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Japan stimulant drug seizures hit record, street prices down

Seizures of stimulant drugs by law enforcement over the first half of the year were up by more than 600 percent compared to one year ago
Seizures of stimulant drugs by law enforcement over the first half of the year were up by more than 600 percent compared to one year ago

TOKYO (TR) – The amount of stimulant drugs seized by law enforcement for 2016 has already eclipsed the annual record while street prices have fallen, reports the Yomiuri Shimbun (Sept. 8).

According to estimates released by the National Police Agency on Thursday, the amount of kakuseizai, or stimulant drugs, seized jumped to 771.7 kilograms between January and June, an increase by more than 650 percent compared to the same period in 2015.

Through this month, the total is more than 900 kilograms, a figure that already exceeds that for 2013 (816.1 kg), the highest on record.

Influencing the total this year have been large-scale busts. In May, Okinawa Prefectural Police seized some 600 kilograms stimulant drugs from a yacht berthed at Naha Port. Three months before, police in Kagoshima Prefecture confiscated more than 100 kilograms of the same contraband from a ship in Kagoshima City.

According to Fuji New Network (Sept. 8), the surge in seizures comes amid falling street prices. The current value of stimulant drugs is around 70,000 yen per gram, a drop by 20,000 yen from 2009.