On August 3, Kensuke Higashihara and Kengo Matsumura arrived at Fukuoka Airport on a flight from Bangkok. The following day, Higashibara was transported by ambulance to a hospital after experiencing extreme stomach discomfort.
During a routine examination, doctors removed approximately 100 small balloons that containing cannabis resin that he had swallowed from inside his anus. Thereafter, a nurse used her hands and an endoscope to remove the remaining balloons. Over a three-day period, a total of 415 balloons, each measuring approximately one centimeter in diameter, were taken from inside Higashihara.
Higashihara and Matsumura, both of whom are 32 years old, have been charged with violating the Cannabis Control Law.
“I thought I could expedite the evacuation (of the balloons) by using a laxative, but the severe pain due to bloating of the abdomen was impossible to endure,” Higashihara is quoted by police.
The resin, which weighs a total of approximately 270 grams, has a street value of around two million yen, according to TV Asahi (Aug. 20).
The suspects had arrived in Bangkok on a flight from Katmandu. Upon arrival in Fukuoka, the drugs were not detected by customs officials.
Police are now attempting to understand how the suspects obtained the contraband.
