Unsuspecting passenger returns cannabis after sniffer dog test botched at Narita

Tuesday 27th May, 07:37 AM JST

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kendodan at 03:14 PM JST - 28th May

boycottolympics,

Yes, but that is simply not the case here. People that have been busted for drugs were caught with large amount of drugs hidden and conceled in their baggage.

This was a stupid thing done by customs offical and was confessed as such. Now if your so-called lawyer could prove actual cases like this were the customs offical was doing this to frame someone, then yeah.

Their is just not enogh of this to discredit any trials in the past.
westurn at 04:21 PM JST - 28th May

Wow ! This is waaaaaayyyy wrong ! I've actually worked with the immigration police officers and dog units ! This is not "standard procedure" by any means ! The police here are covering this up for exactly the reasons boycottolys has mentioned...

"this is clear grounds to open up any case where the person was caught at Narita & subsequently convicted"

Wow !
GW at 04:51 PM JST - 28th May

no way this cud be used in other cases where drugs are found in luggage, do any of you seriously think REAL evidence play much importance in the J-court, come on now you all know better than that
VoXman at 01:51 AM JST - 29th May

Next to the cop who gave a suspect drenched in flammible liquid a lighter, this is the stupidest thing I have read. Dumb @ss cop could have put a big "can't miss this" sticker on the side of the luggage as an identifier,and still had a good test. At least then, customs could have halted him prior to leaving the Airport. As for me, it wouldn't matter...test or no test. Its a gov sponsored breach of trust that very easily could have cost the travelor his/her freedom or maybe their life. Money....and a few firings would definately need to happen.
Eric_USA at 09:38 AM JST - 29th May
It's bad enough that travellers have to worry about smugglers putting drugs in their luggage. Now a customs officer has done this? The passenger was very lucky, things turned out OK but the officer's thoughtless act put this passenger in a lot of danger. What happens when an incident like this collides with zero-tolerance drug laws? An innocent person might have had his life destroyed.
- What if the passenger had been caught with these drugs by Japanese police? How would the police know that the drugs were there because of a botched (and illegal) procedure in customs? Even if customs explained the situation, they couldn't identify the passenger, so how could the passenger prove that he was indeed the victim of this incident? At best, he might be exonerated after a very scary experience; at worst, several years in a Japanese prison!
- Even worse, what if the passenger had only been in transit (and couldn't check his luggage before getting on his next flight)? If he then landed at his destination in possession of that cannabis, he would have a very hard time explaining to the local authorities why the drugs were there. Even an official explanation from Japan might not be enough.
A reprimand is nowhere near enough punishment. This customs officer should be fired, and maybe even charged with drug trafficking. The use of passenger luggage for drug detection experiments is totally illegal and immoral!!
Gatorade at 11:05 AM JST - 29th May

142gms!! I think that this story is both funny and stupid. I absolutely agree with Eric USA states! "Hear Hear!"
bushlover at 11:17 AM JST - 29th May

Eric sorry but if in transit his luggage would have been transfered from one plane to another without going to a baggage carousel where passengers could pick it up. He went through Japanese Customs with it hidden on his suitcase which shows that the dog, and the customs officer that actually had contact with him before he left the airport were also not able to detect it. Does the dog miss a meal and the customs officer that didn't catch it as last point of contact also miss a meal??
nisegaijin at 11:20 AM JST - 29th May

Or depending how you look at it, what a normal, law-abiding citizen not interested in getting a quick illicit buck from peddling drugs and ruining other folk's lives, and definitely not interested in getting run in for someone else's 'mistake'.

stop reading propaganda and come to realize the truth: marijuana never ever ruined anyone's life before. ever.
other drugs. drugs don't ruin people lives. people do this to themselves by ABUSING them. not using, but ABUSING.

l don't respect a single law written about drugs because they suppress constitutional rights of freedom of choice.

Neither I use any drugs because I don't need them. I am fine with alcohol.
cleo at 11:47 AM JST - 29th May

What if the passenger had been caught with these drugs by Japanese police? How would the police know that the drugs were there because of a botched (and illegal) procedure in customs?

It was all over the news. If, as many here claim, the cops spend all their time in the koban watching telly, they knew alright.

drugs don't ruin people lives.

Yeah, yeah, and guns don't kill people, people kill people.

Not everyone who abuses drugs wakes up one fine day and decides, 'Right starting today I'm going to ruin my life by abusing drugs'. It's much more insidious (starting with 'safe' drugs like cannabis) and often aided by people who are skilled at exploiting other people's weaknesses and stand to make big money from turning people into addicts. Big legal guns are needed to curb the rights of drug dealers and pushers. If that means it's a little bit harder to get your hands on 'recreational' mind-altering drugs, fine. Constitutional rights of freedom of choice for drug pushers be damned.
xxzjxx at 11:51 AM JST - 29th May

Hellyhansen, LOL, you can't overdose on marijuana, that is the craziest thing I ever heard.
xxzjxx at 11:53 AM JST - 29th May

Here is what happens when you "overdose" on marijuana... you fall ASLEEP.
JavaChip at 12:04 PM JST - 29th May

Location: Narita Airport. Undertrained Customs Dog meets Incompetent Customs Officer

UCD: Okay, let's get this over with. It's late and my bitch is horny. Snif-snif... Are? Snif-snif... What the hell... Hey man, you ain't got no weed on you!

ICO: He-he! That's right, dawg, it's not on me!

UCD: What'd you do with it?

ICO: I stashed it in some bag on the carousel.

UCD: You did what??? Are you stupid or something? What, am I supposed to sniff all those bags now? I'll never find it, you know I'm totally undertrained for that kind of stuff. I'm only in this thing for the uniform, man, bitches love it!

ICO: Hmmm... Ooops?

UCD: Moron! How could you be so irresponsible and trample on a traveller's human rights like that?

ICO: How could I... what? Hey, wait a... He-he! Dawg, you almost had me going there for a second... Hell, I thought you were serious! Ha-ha, that was rich!

UCD: He-he! Yeah, I know, just made that up on the spot... But still, if that weed gets lost, it's our asses, man!

ICO: Hey, it's okay, the boss won't say a thing, he's just as bad as we are, and he knows it...

UCD: But if this leaks out... specially to those JT posting bastards... you know they're gonna have a field day, they'll make mince meat out of our asses! And then the sh*t may hit the fan big-time!

ICO: Hm, didn't think that far... Ooops?

UCD: Moron!
marshalsea at 03:44 AM JST - 31st May

Bushlover, you're wrong on this. EricUSA is right on.

I recently flew from Canada into NRT on my way to Bangkok. My 2 tickets were issued separately - one was a purchased ticket to NRT, and the other was a free reward ticket from Narita to Bangkok. For this reason the carrier in Canada refused to check either of my bags through to Bangkok. I had to pick them both up in Narita.

So I checked 2 bags - one full of household stuff for my mansion in Japan. The other empty, for shopping in Bangkok. My connecting flight was supposed to allow me about 3 hours in Narita, where I had time to clear Japanese customs with both bags, then have the one bag bag sent from the airport by courier to my house in Japan, and then allow me time to re-check-in with my empty bag in Narita on my way to Bangkok.

As it happened, my flight from Canada arrived late into Narita and both bags were directed into the customs area without me, while I was rushed by agents through the terminal to meet my connecting flight. THAI AIRWAYS RETRIEVED MY BAGS FROM THE CUSTOMS AREA AT NARITA, then forwarded both to Bangkok, including the 22kg bag full of household stuff for Japan.

Needless to say, things go wrong, and it's very possible to have a bag pulled from the Japanese customs area to be forwarded to a final destination for a variety of reasons, as mine was last February 08. Imagine my surprise if the Japanese Drugs were discovered by Thai customs, or worse, by customs in Singapore or Indonesia.

That officer should be FIRED at very least. Possibly charged.
Pukey2 at 09:02 AM JST - 31st May

Was this actually reported much on the Japanese TV news or newspapers?
blvtzpk at 09:51 PM JST - 31st May

Was this actually reported much on the Japanese TV news or newspapers?

From what I saw, no. The Daily Yomiuri had one 'news in brief' paragraph on page 2 detailing Hong Kong's concern with the case (the person had come of a HK flight).

One poster said it was 'all over' the news, but certainly NHK didn't report on it on the Tuesday, which is when Hong kong made the complaint. On Sunday's there are some weekly round-up news shows - watching them might give you a clue.