According to police, David Rezai, 54, worked with accomplices in smuggling 58 kilograms of kakuseizai, or stimulant drugs, concealed inside 36 bottles of paint thinner that arrived at Narita International Airport on July 23.
“I do not clearly recall [the matter],” the suspect was quoted by police in denying the allegations.
The 36 bottles were among 1,152 that arrived inside 192 cardboard boxes. Tokyo Customs officials discovered the contraband six days after the arrival of the shipment.
Rezai was apprehended after officials let the shipment continue to a residence rented by the suspect. Inside the residence, a test applied to the materials gave a positive result for stimulant drugs.
On August 4, police arrested two suspected accomplices of Rezai. An unspecified amount of stimulant drugs was seized from the suspects, police said.
The seizure is the largest of its kind in the prefecture this year, police said.
