TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police and customs officials have arrested an Argentine woman who attempted to smuggle over a kilogram of cocaine into Japan by swallowing it in plastic capsules, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Aug. 15).
Rosa Micaela Quipildor, 30, whose address and occupation are unknown, is accused of violating the Narcotics Control Law for the purpose of profit, as well as the Customs Law. Investigators suspect a South American drug cartel orchestrated the operation.
According to the Metropolitan Police Department’s Drugs and Firearms Division, Quipildor arrived at Haneda Airport on a flight from London’s Heathrow Airport on the 10th. When she attempted to pass through the inspection checkpoint, customs officials became suspicious of her behavior and sent her to a nearby hospital for an X-ray examination.
“I met a woman at a festival”
The scan revealed 101 cocoon-shaped plastic pellets hidden inside her digestive tract. Authorities recovered approximately 1.01 kilograms of cocaine in total, carrying an estimated street value of 24 million yen.
During police questioning, Quipildor admitted to the allegations.
“A woman I met at a festival told me about a lucrative smuggling job and introduced me to a man,” she told investigators. “I came to Japan on the man’s instructions and was supposed to receive $7,000 USD as a reward.”
Spread among youth
While the total haul exceeded a kilogram, her initial arrest warrant was served for the confirmed smuggling of a 10.01-gram portion of the narcotics.
Tokyo police took action against a record 415 individuals for cocaine-related offenses last year, warning that the drug’s proliferation among the nation’s youth has become particularly conspicuous.
