TOCHIGI (TR) – Two men last week were sent to prosecutors over the cultivation of marijuana at residences in Tochigi and Gunma prefectures, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Jan. 19).
The Kanto Narcotics Control Department and other law enforcement divisions sent Akiyuki Okada, a 36-year-old resident of Sano City, Tochigi, and Motohiro Serizawa, 35, of no known occupation, living in Tatebayashi City, Gunma, to prosecutors on suspicion of cultivation and possession of marijuana with intent to sell.
Both defendants have acknowledged possessing marijuana but deny doing so for the purpose of sale.
Last fall, police seized 270 plants and growing equipment from the residences of the defendants. Police also seized 960 grams of marijuana — with a street value of 5.73 million yen — from the residence of Okada. Police also seized 240 grams (with a value of 1.45 million yen) from the residence of Serizawa.
Police are now attempting to identify the customers of the suspects.
