IBARAKI (TR) – Police divisions from Tokyo and Ibaraki Prefecture last week announced the arrest of nine more persons, including an organized crime member, in connection with the seizure of the largest amount of stimulant drugs nationwide this year, police said, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Dec. 1).
Police have arrested a 73-year-old boss in the Kyokuto-kai on suspicion of trafficking in kakuseizai, or stimulant drugs, following the discovery of 480 kilograms of the contraband — with street value of 30.7 billion yen — inside a truck in Hitachinaka City.
On August 22, police accused Atsushi Imaizumi, a 48-year-old member of the Sumiyoshi-kai, and Masami Hosokawa, 60, of possessing 1 kilogram of the same drug for the purpose of trafficking at the same location in Hitachinaka.
According to investigative sources, it is believed that an international trafficking group was behind the smuggling. A Chinese and Dutch national are among the other suspects in the case. Police suspect the contraband was landed at Hitachinaka via boats operating off the coast. Police have now arrested a total of 14 persons in the case.
For stimulant drugs, the seizure represents the largest nationwide this year, and the fourth-biggest on record. The largest confiscation took place in May, 2016, when Okinawa Prefectural Police seized some 597 kilograms of stimulant drugs from a yacht berthed at Naha Port.
