OSAKA –
Authorities in Kyoto and Osaka have arrested three males in separate drug circumstances involving so-called zombie cigarettes containing the designated drug etomidate, as investigators step up efforts in opposition to the unlawful commerce within the Kansai area.
In Kyoto, police arrested 59-year-old Masahiko Nishiyama, often known as Jeong-je Cho, and 56-year-old Teruhiko Kashiwa on suspicion of violating the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Act.
The two are suspected of conspiring with others to illegally import etomidate from Malaysia.
Police stated the suspects have informed investigators that they had been launched to the smuggling operation by an acquaintance and introduced the drug into Japan.
Authorities seized 9 varieties of medication throughout the investigation, together with stimulants, marijuana and etomidate.
So-called zombie cigarettes are usually not standard cigarettes and should include no tobacco. The time period usually refers to illicit electronic-cigarette or vaping liquids containing etomidate, a robust sedative utilized in some nations as an anesthetic.
The nickname comes from the extreme bodily results that may happen after the drug is inhaled. Users might lose coordination, stagger, grow to be unable to regulate their actions or expertise involuntary actions and convulsions. More severe results can embody profound sedation, impaired consciousness, respiratory despair and lack of consciousness.
Etomidate itself has authentic medical purposes abroad, the place it may be administered by medical professionals to induce anesthesia. In illicit vaping merchandise, nevertheless, customers inhale the substance outdoors a managed medical setting, with no dependable approach to know its focus or what different medication or chemical substances might have been combined into the liquid.
Japanese authorities started elevating alarms over the leisure use of etomidate after abuse circumstances had been recognized in Okinawa. The well being ministry issued a warning in May 2025 as concern grew over merchandise containing the substance.
Japan subsequently designated etomidate as a delegated drug below the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Act, with restrictions taking impact on May 26, 2025. Its manufacture, importation, sale, possession, buy and use for unauthorized functions are prohibited.
Authorities have additionally warned that the consequences of etomidate can create risks past the person, together with accidents attributable to individuals who grow to be severely impaired after taking the drug.
The downside initially drew specific consideration in Okinawa, however enforcement circumstances later emerged in different elements of Japan. By November 2025, the well being ministry had confirmed arrests or enforcement circumstances in a number of prefectures outdoors Okinawa, though it stated on the time that abuse had not but unfold nationwide.
The newest arrests in Kansai point out that authorities are persevering with to come across etomidate-containing vaping merchandise outdoors the areas the place the issue was first recognized.
In a separate case in Osaka, 31-year-old Tatsuhide Takahashi was arrested on suspicion of violating the Stimulants Control Act and different legal guidelines after allegedly possessing stimulants, zombie cigarettes and different medication for business functions in Osaka City’s Tennoji Ward.
The Narcotics Control Department of the Kinki Regional Bureau of Health and Welfare believes a number of different folks could also be linked to the case and is constant its investigation.
Authorities haven’t disclosed whether or not Takahashi has admitted or denied the allegations.
Source: ABCTVnews