
KANAGAWA (TR) – An engineer at conglomerate Hitachi told police he didn’t know a narcotic he mail-ordered from Spain was in fact a narcotic, TV Asahi reported on Wednesday (Jan. 11).
Masao Nakano, a system engineer, was arrested by Kanagawa Prefectural Police on suspicion of using international mail to smuggle a total of some eight grams of a narcotic drug through Haneda Airport in October 2015 and August 2016.
Nakano is denying the charges, telling police he “once took dangerous drugs about five or six years ago. I thought it had a stimulating effect. I didn’t know it was a narcotic.”
Police are investigating how Nakano obtained the drug, which he ordered from an overseas web site.
A customs officer became suspicious and opened a DVD case when they discovered the drugs stashed in an envelope, police said.