Pubdate: Thu, 23 Dec 2004
Source: Japan Times (Japan)
Copyright: 2004 The Japan Times
Contact:  http://www.japantimes.co.jp/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/755
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)

THREE HELD OVER HUGE ECSTASY HAUL

Three men have been indicted for allegedly smuggling into Japan about
46,000 tablets of Ecstasy, police said Wednesday.

Takami Mitsumoto, 33, Shoichi Sasaki, 37, and Makoto Abe, 52, were
arrested last month by the Metropolitan Police Department and Tokyo
Customs over the fourth-largest amount of Ecstasy seized in a single
case in Japan, the MPD said. The haul has a street value of around 180
million yen.

The MPD said it was the largest bust under its jurisdiction.

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office indicted the three last
week for illegally importing drugs.

Police are checking for links to a case in July in which Hyogo
Prefectural Police and Kobe Customs arrested seven suspects for
allegedly smuggling 60,000 tablets of Ecstasy into Japan. This case
was the nation's largest Ecstasy haul.

The method used to smuggle the Ecstasy was similar in both cases,
investigative authorities said.

Mitsumoto, Sasaki and Abe allegedly received a wooden table in
September that contained 45,869 tablets of Ecstasy hidden in a
hollowed-out top section, according to investigations. The table was
shipped to Japan from Belgium via the Netherlands.

Tokyo Customs authorities spotted the drugs during an X-ray
inspection, police said.

The three suspects were quoted as telling police that a "foreign" man
asked them to receive a package in return for cash.
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