SHIZUOKA (TR) – Earlier this yr, divers investigating a big cargo ship that was docked at Shimizu Port discovered a bag containing a big amount of cocaine affixed to the hull.
The case is additional proof that smuggling of unlawful medicine into Japan is on the rise, experiences Fuji News Network (Oct. 27).
The quantity of seized cocaine weight roughly 20 kg, with a road worth of roughly 500 million yen.
In July, divers from the Shimizu Coast Guard Office found the duffle bag containing the cocaine affixed to the ship throughout an investigation carried out based mostly on the vessel’s route from abroad.
The cocaine was hidden in a seawater consumption positioned within the backside of the ship, roughly 12 meters under sea stage.
This smuggling tactic is named the “parasitic method,” whereby medicine are smuggled by hiding them on the underside of the ship with out the crew noticing.
Before the ship’s departure, members of the smuggling group will dive into the ocean and conceal the medicine on the underside of the ship. Then, as soon as the ship arrives at its vacation spot, they may dive again into the water to retrieve the contraband.
This is the second case of smuggling utilizing this technique to be uncovered in Japan.
Illegal drug smuggling instances are occurring one after one other
According to the Ministry of Finance, Japan Customs investigated 531 unlawful drug instances between January and June. The complete quantity of unlawful medicine seized was 2,073 kilograms, representing the firs time the determine exceeded 2 tons.
The development is ongoing. On Monday, a 61-year-old British man was indicted for making an attempt to smuggle roughly 30 kilograms of kakuseizai (methamphetamine) from the United States.
Experts level out that the state of affairs is more likely to develop into much more severe sooner or later.
Masayoshi Amemiya, the Director of the Forensic Science Research Center, explains “Smuggling methods are becoming more sophisticated, with smugglers using all sorts of cunning tactics, so there is a possibility that they will continue to increase. I don’t think we can deny that.”