crime

British employee of Merrill Lynch Japan among 10 busted over cocaine use at nightclubs

78 Comments

Police on Tuesday arrested four foreigners, including a British employee of Merrill Lynch Japan, and six Japanese for possession and use of illegal drugs at two nightclubs in Roppongi on May 11.

According to police, the 10 suspects were picked up after raids on the clubs DownTown and Odeon, around 8:30 a.m. on May 11 after they received a tip that illegal drugs were being traded in the clubs. Police found the 10 suspects in possession of cocaine and cannabis. Police say those clubs are known for illegal drug dealing on the Internet.

Police said the British suspect denies the allegations. He was quoted as saying, “I don't use drugs. Somebody put it in my pocket. I have no idea how it got there." Other suspects told police they bought the drugs from an "African guy" at various bars, but police have not found him.

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When will these idiots ever learn? Taking drugs is stupid. Whatever high they can get from drugs, I can get much higher just by looking at a sunset. I hope the police also raided Heartland and I hope they next drive those Africans and Chinese massage girls off the street. The other night, it was impossible to walk along without being hassled.

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He was a brit stupid to take drugs in Japan - now he's gonna get lynched.

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I'm a full-on partier myself and, while I may be crazy, I'm not stupid.

Well, it's not on the scale or creativity of "We know Iraq has weapons of mass destruction," or "I did not have sex with that woman," or other famous lies of US presidents, but “I don’t use drugs. Somebody put it in my pocket. I have no idea how it got there,” has a certain cute ring of desperation to it, doesn't it?

Geez, guess there's a position open at Merrill now.

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And, Smartacus, looking at the sunset while having some really, really good sake - yeah, that rocks. Add being at the beach and with your favorite gal and it really can't be beat.

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Merrill was planning to downsize anyway - guy just made their job easier.

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drugs are baaad, mmmkay!

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No names ? Ages ? Just "Merrill Lynch, foreigners, and Brits" ??? C'mon JT you can do better than this ! Hold these "individuals" accountable for their actions.... not their company or nation of origin !

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Geez, guess there's a position open at Merrill now.

I just checked their homepage and they have a section describing the "average day" of one of their traders.

Wake up at 5:20

Arrive at work at 6:30

Various meetings until 20:00

After that go out drinking with work buddies.

And they post this on their homepage as though it is something to entice people who want to join the company??

No wonder these guys use drugs.

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No wonder these guys use drugs, Merril Lynch, I think it is part of their job, otherwise how do you expect stock markets to remain so highs despite weak economic data in USA, Japan....?

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Should Merrill Lynch employees live under a curfew?

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I wonder if he would do a drug test to prove he doesn't use drugs?

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*Police say those clubs are known for illegal drug dealing on the Internet.

Fire the cops. If they knew, why did they wait doing nothing ?

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.

Fire the cops. If they knew, why did they wait doing nothing ? . They need REASONABLE GROUNDS , and evidence - to present to a judge to get a warrant.

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A Brit, 3 other foreigners, a half dozen Japanese, an "African guy" who supplied the stuff...Japan is truly becoming one big, happy international family!

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. no surpise . . half of brokers on the State-side do cocaine - for the very reasons papasmurfinjapan posted : its an intensively demanding career -and they use stimulants to survive the pressures !!

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They probably centered on the Brit because he is denying any wrong doing. "it's not mine...I don't know how that got in my pocket...... really!!!!! Give me a break, If you can do the crime, you better be able to do the time....

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"No officer, rilly. They did me like they did Nick Baker. Someone must have put the contraband in my jacket whilst I was in the 'loo warming the toilet seat for Nigel, he's the - what's that you say? - you cahn't speak English"

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I agree with Westurn; if this were any other strictly "Japanese" story, we'd have names, ages, and possibly mugshots! What gives, JT?

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In j-media ledes, 4 foreigners trump 6 Japanese. Ah, j-media poker!

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Police said the British suspect denies the allegations. He was quoted as saying, “I don’t use drugs. Somebody put it in my pocket. I have no idea how it got there.”

Well the "use of illegal drugs" charge will put this to the test. If he really wasn't using and tests positive, then he'll have to claim someone put them in one or other bodily orifice without his knowledge.

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As they say in the business: buy low, sell high.

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JT how about telling us the companies or similar where the 6 J-Blokes are employed..........?

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It is pretty obvious these Merrill Lynch guys can't behave or show proper respect for Japan. You would think a top notch company such as this would do a heck of better job screening there employees before they came to Japan. I suggest a curfew and a period of reflection for at least ten days for all the rest of those employees they hired and work here but don't do coke so that they show the proper respect that is expected here.

Seems fair doesn't it???

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what a suprise

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It is pretty obvious these Merrill Lynch guys can't behave or show proper respect for Japan. You would think a top notch company such as this would do a heck of better job screening there employees before they came to Japan. I suggest a curfew and a period of reflection for at least ten days for all the rest of those employees they hired and work here but don't do coke so that they show the proper respect that is expected here. Seems fair doesn't it???

no one or thing is perfect, there will be people that were good that have turn bad do to temptation. he and they could have been really good people before they got caught up in the wrong thing.. and as humans when we are not aware of ourselves and where we are going it is quite easy to get caught up in things.. as we sometimes say go with the flow.

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sailwind...This is not a matter of respect for Japan. In fact it has nothing to do with "he did it because he was out to disrespect Japan," ( that's ludicous) he just bought and took drugs a crime in almost every country. I doubt he had the nation of Japan on his mind as he was doing this. The people caught were both foreigners and Japanese as the article states. I do think it is bad reporting on the reporter to dish out the name of the company the foreigner belongs to and not the Japanese companies the Japanese males belong to.

Merrill Lynch like any big comapny has strict rules against taking drugs and most likely has a program in place to help people in need of counciling and has a random drug testing policy. At the comapnies I've worked for in industry, both have this policy. He probably was not taking drugs at the time he was hired or else it would surely have come out in the drug testing phase which every new hiree goes through. If he had been positive he would not have been hired. Most people begin after the fact.

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what to say..hmmmm. he is screwed...my his cellie will be an african guy...then they can bond will lite chit chat.....what about the yakuza,triads..now we all know they`re NOT selling peppermints..go after them.Mr police officer

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nuju

Just pointing out if this was a military person in Japan that did this the response would not even be close to the one you gave.....Reasonable. Painful life of reality living in Japan if your military or associated with it your villified if your Merrill Lynch you get a pass.

Going with the flow as you said.

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I didn't realize a bit of toot could cause such a hoo-har in Japan. When I first saw the title, I thought, "wow, they caught people with coke in a club...this is news?"

I take it the clubs over there aren't like the one's in Europe where the police would have to arrest everyone in the club in a crack-down, and half of the arresting officers too for possesion?

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who's out at 8:30 am anyway in a club unless your coked up

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These foreigners are obviously innocent. They need not worry as the Japanese judicial system is biased FOR foreigners.

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nuju The thing is society expects the US military to all be perfect upstanding people and for the most part they are so it is really big news when one of them does something stupid but do we really expect bankers to have any morals at all?

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What not name the workplaces of all ten then? Destroy one Brit publicly, while respecting the others' anonymity. Wrong, very wrong.

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These foreigners are obviously innocent. They need not worry as the Japanese judicial system is biased FOR foreigners.

rjd_jr, I agree 100%. It's unfortunate that the Japanese justice system is so lenient to foreigners.

What not name the workplaces of all ten then? Destroy one Brit publicly, while respecting the others' anonymity. Wrong, very wrong.

shanabelle,

No, not wrong. This is Japan. You are a guest. Breaking the laws is disrespectful to Japan. Don't like how it is in Japan? We have plenty of airports with flights you can take home.

Name and shame, but not our own!

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Somebody put it in my pocket

My mom always told me, if you don't have anything credible to say...

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Not wrong at all shanabelle. First of all this British suspect wasn't named. Second, his nationality is highlighted as he is an employee of a high profile company, Merill Lynch. It would be the same for anyone in the same situation.

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shocking just shcoking. I have never met any business men who use coke. Ha Ha. It's only news because he's a foreigner and Japan has far less drug use than the rest of the modern world.... next....

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haha, 10 people busted for coke, less than half foreigners. Whats the headline? 'ten people including 4 foreigners busted for coke.' Good lord thats ridiculous.

Sorry, guests obey the rules theirs hosts show them.

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Ah well quato, he's the one that's being quoted. Still, he's a high profile employee of a high profile company, not a foreign tourist, so of course extra attention will be paid to him. Also, just a few weeks ago another British person was in the news for not being guilty of drug charges, so there's going to be some form of extra attention.

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Were any of the others arrested high profile people from high profile firms, or is it just the one foreigner?

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the others worked at Goldman and Lehman

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They should consider themselves lucky it happened in Japan and not Singapore.

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Very, very good point motyrah. Still just shows how some people get out of hand when boozing & they were showing it. Also in another country, rules & regulations to culture are often so different to one's homeland.

Mind you six Japanese were also cought in the same breaking of the Japanese laws.

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Police said the British suspect denies the allegations. He was quoted as saying, “I don’t use drugs

Simple blood test should solve that

Merrill Lynch like any big comapny has strict rules against taking drugs and most likely has a program in place to help people in need of counciling and has a random drug testing policy. At the comapnies I've worked for in industry, both have this policy. He probably was not taking drugs at the time he was hired or else it would surely have come out in the drug testing phase which every new hiree goes through. If he had been positive he would not have been hired. Most people begin after the fact.

News to me - I work for a similar company and am not aware of any counciling programs or random drug tests. Certainly there are strict policies against it and you would have to make sure the door did not hit you on the but as you leave your job...

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Mind you six Japanese were also cought in the same breaking of the Japanese laws.

Yeah, but unless they were someone really big, they don't matter. I mean come on, foreigners arrested here. Who cares if a few Japanese got caught too.

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Merrill Lynch like any big comapny has strict rules against taking drugs and most likely has a program in place to help people in need of counciling and has a random drug testing policy.

Where did you hear that? As DeepAir65 said, I work for a similar company also and the policy would be to fire someone been busted rather than counseling..

I know the guy in question with regards to this story and all the stories of Japanese police barbaric antics are true..

Oh, and Merrills will be sueing Asahi news for releasing his name and workplace, even though hes not been charged and due to police cock-up he most likely won`t be.

This was a poor attempt by the J-cops to send some sort of msg to all us roundeyes that they`re cracking down on drugs in the Pong.

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Drugs, Brits, Africans...slow night in Roppongi

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"Six Japanese were arrested too, what a bunch of hypocrites Japanese people are!"

And the ratio of Japanese to foreigners is what in this country?

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These foreign firms need to get out of Japan NOW. Japan does not need the moral corruption that their employees bring. Japan is quite capable of financing its own projects, thank you very much. Send them packing!

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Bankers and cocaine don't mix, just watch American Psycho.

I'm glad this Patrick Bateman wannabe is behind bars.

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I see the comments mentioning his name and age have been deleted, even though they're on the Asahi newspaper's Japanese website.

But anyway, barring a positive blood test, the "the drugs just found their way into my pocket" defense is solid, isn't it? If I were in possession of some coke when the police raided a bar, I'd be looking for some securities company employee's pocket.

<strong>Moderator: At this stage, we ask all readers to refrain from publishing the suspect's name.</strong>

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Some interesting circular posting going on here. Is it okay to post a link to a site that DOES name names? (URL changed as the original one set off the naughty word alarm)

http://tinyurl.com/3m8tpy

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I think you'll find the answer in the word "sueing" a few comments up!

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I think you'll find the answer in the word "sueing" a few comments up!

On what grounds?

Merill Lynch already made a statement.

「事態が明確になり次第きちんと対処するが、それ以上のコメントはない」

"We will act accordingly when the situation becomes clearer. At this point, we have no further comment"

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These foreign firms need to get out of Japan NOW. Japan does not need the moral corruption that their employees bring. Japan is quite capable of financing its own projects, thank you very much. Send them packing!

hahahaha. youre a funny guy! Japan couldnt finance a pushbike.. The reason there are mostly western salestraders in Japan is because there is no such thing as an agressive salesman who can actually make his targets..

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Actually, by far the majority of the employees of the gaishi IBs are Japanese. Can't speak in detail as to thier morals but the ladies do seem open to suggestion after a few bevvies.

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I heard a rumour that he was Merrilly Lynched....

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If this were Christmas I'd make a seasonal joke about a ding-dong from Merrill getting high...

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"Somebody put it in my pocket"

Sure, pal.

"they bought the drugs from "an African guy"...

That's possible.

"... at various bars"

That's the problem - these guys are spending too much time in bars.

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Not publishing the name because the guy is the publisher's mate, or because Merril Lynch would sue?

Can't be the sue option, since it's routine to lynch people in the media here.

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Very Merrily Lynched by the media?

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Typo,... Verily very....

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Don't know what your mumbling about "rjdsr"... without foreign firms helping the economy, Japan would be in worst condition than it already is. They obviously shouldn't be dealing drugs and will be paying their dues on the crime, but shouldn't have any reflection on foreign firms as it is an individual problem, not the firms problem. Does your company give you a spanking when you do something wrong?

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Does your company give you a spanking when you do something wrong?

I know that some firms will fire you for a criminal offense – at the arrest stage. I have sat on HR Committees that made this call.

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he's 29 years old and a British national..has been with Merrill for 5 years. I know the guy personally, he's actually a decent bloke

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and at the end of it all just a stupid decision. Should have waited to do the blow until you were back home where it would be a slap on the wrist. As if cocaine is some sort of moral corruptive to Japanese society (as RJDsr said I hope jokingly) A whole lot of free coke might actually raise the birth rate here, what do say boys?

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USA, it's more corrupting than a lot of other illegal substances I can think of.

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I'd fire him purely on the basis that he must be God-awful at his job if this sorry tale is anything to go by.

Apparently the very same venue had been raided by the rozzers beck in Feb in a drugs bust and remains a notorious drug-den.

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he's 29 years old and a British national..has been with Merrill for 5 years. I know the guy personally, he's actually a decent bloke

Stallion.

Yeah, he is. Has been a mate of mine for about 6 years.

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rjdsjr: No, not wrong. This is Japan. You are a guest. Breaking the laws is disrespectful to Japan. Don't like how it is in Japan? We have plenty of airports with flights you can take home.

Thank you for reminding us of where we are. Very kind of you. By the way, isn't it disrespectful to break the law no matter where you are or where you're from? When Japanese break the law in Japan do you consider it disrespectful? Is it disrespectful when Brits break the law in Britain?

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Stallion, I doubt this bloke appreciates you giving detailed information about him on this site.

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Wonder why they chose to focus on the British guy and not the other 9 (6 Japanese and 3 other "foreigners")?

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Traders and cocaine... in Roppongi... I am shocked!! I'd love to see some random blood testing on the trading floors of the major investment banks here in Tokyo. You can bet many traders would suddenly decide it was time to relocate.

BTW: The "someone put it in my pocket" excuse probably also wouldn't work to well when going through customs either.

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Cut the guy a break. Coke is illegal everywhere. Of coure he should deny it. Never admit it. We should back the guy up. A little foreign support, sheesh, the man was out at the club with some friends and doing a little bolivian marching powder, big deal! A victimless crime! lets rally behind him. At the very least he is being sent home jobless. At the most, he will do awful time in jail here eating fish head soup and wasting away in solitary.

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a close friend has just had the same thing happen to him and we have no way of finding out how he is. We have now idea what will happen and where. we have had no contact and he is not able to communicate with us either. our embassy has not yet been contacted by our friend so we dont even know where he is. The Japanese judicial system is so secretive that it makes it very difficult to asses the situation. If anyone has any ideas please help

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actually lipscombe, he isn't a hardened user of coke, but moreover an alcohol imbiber, it seems that almost all Japanese men are great consumers of alcohol, which I might remind everyone, is also a drug, and a drug with very horrible consiquenses, more deaths, family violence, road related accidents etc, it is just a "legal" drug.Yes I find that being in possesion of illegal substances is punishable, my issue is that we cannot find out ANYTHING because the Japanese government doesn't allow any contact between someone being held, without being charged. they have up to 21 days to hold someone with out charge. In that time they may interrogate as much or as often as they want, 24 hrs a day if they decide. If indeed the outcome is deportation, then PLEASE put him on a plane back home, but if you are found with just a small "personal" amount then you weren't trafficing and the only one you are harming is yourself. lets face it, his job is gone, his family humiliated, his coworkers shocked and his life as he knew it is over. Why not just send him back on the next flight?

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MichaelJP:

BTW: The "someone put it in my pocket" excuse probably also wouldn't work to well when going through customs either.

Err.....read today's headlines and it might.

I have no problem with the police addressing the drugs problem, I do wonder why the media focus on the nationality and job of someone caught doing something. What's the difference whether he worked for Merill's or an Eikawa? None as far as I can see. If it was a Japanese person, there wouldn't be the focus on their profession, I'm sure - unless they were famous. The whole thing would have been dealt with nice and quietly and without any embarassment to the company that they worked for - since unlike the recent insider trading scam at Nomura (how happy the company must have been to find out it was a Chinese employee who was responsible...) this alleged offence has absolutely nothing to do with the accused's job. But who cares when it's bad publicity for a nasty foreign investment bank, eh?

Ridiculous

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swibbs:

lets face it, his job is gone, his family humiliated, his coworkers shocked and his life as he knew it is over.

Why should it be, if he's in fact innocent? Unless the cops can prove that he knew the drugs were in his pocket, or they find the person that sold them to him, or have clear evidence that he bought or used them, he might be fine if he sticks to his story.

I hate all this jumping to conclusions by people who don't know about the situation...

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