TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a female British national who was found to have stimulant drugs concealed in her system inside capsules upon arrival in Japan earlier this month, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Sept. 13).
On September 4, a customs official pulled aside Lauren Rumble, 28, after she was found to be behaving suspiciously after her arrival at Haneda Airport on a flight from Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand.
At a hospital, a CT scan revealed that the system of Rumble contained 138 capsules of kakuseizai, or stimulant drugs. Each capsule, measuring about 4 centimeters long, was wrapped in plastic.
The contraband is believed to have a street value of around 62 million yen, police said.
Police later accused Rumble of violating the Stimulants Control Law regarding smuggling of one capsule confirmed to contain nearly 6 grams of stimulant drugs.
“[The capsules] were not swallowed through my own will. I was forced to [ingest the capsules] while unconscious in Thailand, but I do not recall the situation clearly,” the suspect was quoted by police.
According to police, the number of busts for smuggling stimulant drugs through Haneda Airport has surged this year.
