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Vietnamese nationals admit smuggling drugs during coronavirus pandemic

A scaffolding worker is among the five suspects (Twitter)

TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested five Vietnamese nationals over the alleged smuggling of illegal drugs through the postal mail, reports TBS News (June 3).

By Tuesday, police had arrested the five male and suspects, including 29-year-old scaffolding worker Le Chi Trung, who lives in Ageo City, Saitama Prefecture.

According to police, 75 grams of kakuseizai, or stimulant drugs, and 80 tablets of MDMA, or Ecstasy, were concealed inside several pairs of shoes that arrived at Narita International Airport from Vietnam via international mail at the end of May.

Five male and female Vietnamese nationals have been accused of smuggling stimulant drugs in the mail (Twitter)

The contraband was packed inside plastic bags inserted into an intermediary layer in the bottoms of the footwear.

Four of the five suspects admit to the allegations, police said. “Due the the novel coronavirus outbreak, I am troubled by money since I have no work,” four of the suspects told police. Le denies the allegations.

After the shoes arrived at the airport, customs officials swapped out the drugs and replaced them with other unspecified items. The shoes were then sent to the intended address in Saitama.