Nigeria Abroad
Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a Nigerian man suspected of dealing illegal drugs in the Roppongi entertainment district, reports Japan’s Sankei Shimbun.
On June 2, Chris Oh Modebel allegedly possessed 30.5 grams of cocaine and 0.6 grams of kakuseizai, or stimulant drugs, found in an electrical meter box for a building in the district.
Upon his arrest on suspicion of violating the narcotics and stimulants control laws, Modebel denied the allegations.
“I know nothing about the matter,” the suspect said.
According to the police, Modebel, who lives in Kashiwa City, Chiba Prefecture, is the leader of a drug dealing ring composed of Nigerian nationals.
During the investigation, police seized a total of 289 grams of cocaine, 58.2 grams of stimulant drugs and an unspecified amount of MDMA, or Ecstasy, from the meter box. The contraband has a combined street value of 9.6 million yen (about US $90,000)
For this case, police used a new chemical for the on-the-spot identification of cocaine. In 2012 and next year, police used chemicals that mistakenly identified substances as cocaine. This led to persons being arrested by mistake.
Sentences differ based on technicalities, but the maximum for drug offences in Japan is life imprisonment.
This news originally appeared in Nigeria Abroad.
