CHIBA (TR) – A 39-year-old American woman has been accused of smuggling 25 kilograms of marijuana inside suitcases at Narita International Airport, reports Chiba TV (Feb. 28).
The bust represents the largest amount of marijuana brought in by a single passenger at Narita International Airport since statistics began being kept in 2006, officials said.
According to the Narita Branch of Tokyo Customs, Sylvia Marie Pereira arrived on a flight at Narita International Airport with two suitcases containing packages of marijuana on January 12.
The contraband has a street value of 125 million yen, police said.
Upon her arrest on suspicion of violating the Customs Act, Pereira denied the allegations. “I just brought luggages that someone checked for me,” she said.
The marijuana was wrapped in 25 plastic bags, one of which weighed 25,014 grams.
A customs official checked the woman’s bags after determining that the amount of luggage she had in her possession exceeded what is normally carried by a tourist.
