Canadian Allegedly Smuggles Drugs by using “Minpaku” Lodging

May 11, 2018

Tokyo- Japanese law-enforcement authorities have served a fresh arrest warrant to a Canadian man for allegedly smuggling stimulants into the country by sending the drugs to a "minpaku" private lodging facility in Tokyo.

Wang Qin Cheng has denied the allegations against him, according to sources familiar with the joint investigation by the Metropolitan Police Department and Tokyo Customs.

The 25-year-old man is suspected of importing a large amount of stimulant drugs into Japan in January by sending the drugs to minpaku accommodation at a condominium in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward from California via air delivery.

According to the MPD's organized crime control bureau, the suspect had already been arrested and prosecuted for allegedly importing some 2.2 kilograms of stimulants, with a street value of approximately 130 million yen, by sending the drugs to another minpaku facility in Shinagawa Ward.

The sources said that the drugs were hidden in bags of food items in both cases.

The minpaku accommodations are thought to have been used as people book the lodgings via the Internet and can check into their rooms without having to meet caretakers or other staff, the sources said.