OSAKA (TR) – Osaka Prefectural Police have arrested a male Singaporean national after nearly 3 kilograms of stimulant drugs were found in his suitcase upon arrival at Kansai International Airport last year, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Jan. 17).
According to the Kansai Airport Police Station and the Osaka branch of Japan Customs, the Singaporean, 37, was found to have 2.97 kilograms of kakuseizai, or stimulant drugs, concealed in a suitcase upon his arrival at the airport on a flight from India on December 22.
The street value of the contraband is about 190 million yen, police said.
The Singaporean, who has been accused of smuggling under the Stimulants Control Law, partially denies the allegations. “I thought that some illegal things were concealed [inside the suitcase}, but I didn’t know they were stimulant drugs,” the suspect was quoted by police. He has been sent to prosecutors.
According to police, a male acquaintance of the suspect instructed him to deliver the drugs to an address in Osaka’s Ikuno Ward.
Smuggling attempt in October
A similar smuggling attempt was uncovered two months before, according to Mainichi Broadcasting System (Jan. 17). In October, a male Chinese national, 20, was found with 2.4 kilograms of stimulant drugs concealed inside 16 toner cartridges for copy machines following a flight from Malaysia at the same airport.
The drugs have an estimated street value of 150 million yen, police said.
The Chinese national, who had been told to deliver the drugs to an address in Fukuoka Prefecture, also claimed to not know that he was carrying contraband.
