2 Japanese caught with P1.6 M worth of marijuana in Bontoc

BAGUIO CITY — Two Japanese nationals were arrested in Bontoc, Mountain Province last Friday for possession of 1,360 kilograms of marijuana, an amount which could see them face the death penalty, police said.

Police arrested Shunsuke Tamazaki, 32, and Yohei Saito, 21, after they were found with 13 marijuana bricks said to be worth over P1.6 million, at a checkpoint in Barangay Dantay in Bontoc, Senior Superintendent Eugene Martin, spokesman of the Cordillera police, said.

Philippine drug laws provide for capital punishment for possession of as little as 500 grams of marijuana.

Chief Superintendent Rowland Albano, Cordillera police director, said police were investigating if the two were planning to transport the marijuana to Japan.

The Japanese embassy told the Philippine National Police (PNP) this week that Japanese Customs experts were coming to the country to discuss the smuggling of illegal drugs from the northern mountain regions to Japan.

In a letter, Naoki Ida, first secretary of the Japanese embassy, informed the PNP about the visit of Yuji Ito, assistant supervisory investigator of the Narita Customs, and Shigetoshi Aoyama, Customs expert of the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

Albano said PNP higher-ups have directed him to brief the two Japanese Customs experts on the drug situation in the Cordilleras and provide them information that could suggest the transport of marijuana to Japan. — Artemio Dumlao, AFP