KANAGAWA (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Wednesday announced the arrest of two organized crime members in the smuggling of drugs inside chocolate that arrived from overseas, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Sep. 15).
In early January, Mamoru Nakane, a 63-year-old boss of a gang affiliated with the Inagawa-kai, and fellow gang member Yoshihiko Aono, 50, are alleged to have imported a pair of boxes of chocolate containing two kilograms of stimulant drugs via express mail from China.
The contraband, whose retail value is estimated at 140 million yen, was then sent by postal mail to a Korean confectionery shop in Yokohama.
The suspects, both of whom have been charged with the illegal importation of stimulant drugs for profit, deny the allegations.
The involvement of the suspects in the crime came to light after police examined telephone records obtained in an investigation of the confectionery shop.