English teacher arrested in Japan for smuggling cannabis oil inside hair treatment bottles

Two kilograms found hidden in shampoo pump-bottles.

Despite cannabis becoming more widely accepted in many countries around the world, in Japan it’s still considered a major crime to have or use any amount. It wasn’t until just last month that laws concerning medicinal marijuana were even considered to be relaxed.

Which is why it’s of the utmost importance to stay far away from the substance while in Japan… and especially not be a part of mailing it around the country.

Unfortunately that’s exactly what one American English teacher from Tsukuba City in Ibaraki Prefecture did, helping to smuggle cannabis oil inside hair treatment bottles.

▼ A video of the news story, including the bottles themselves.

The 43-year-old English conversation school (eikaiwa) teacher, Richard Thomas Gonzalez Melgarejo, was arrested in April at a hotel in Ibaraki Prefecture. He was found with about two kilograms of cannabis oil hidden inside hair treatment bottles.

He was suspected of receiving the parcel of smuggled goods at the hotel, and of planning to ship it out. A search of his home found five more kilograms of cannabis oil, which resulted in him being further charged of possession with intent to sell.

The value of the seven total kilograms of cannabis oil comes to about 280 million yen (US$2,556,960), and is suspected of being a part of a larger organization.

Most Japanese netizens seemed in favor of the outcome:

“This is just the tip of the iceberg.”
“Nowadays the US is booming with weed business. There are tons of smugglers.”
“Ugh, we should go back to being an isolated country.”
“I guess this shows we should make marijuana laws even more severe.

Anyone wishing to visit Japan or move there who can’t live without cannabis may want to reconsider their plans. Foreigners aren’t free from the laws in Japan, even if they disagree with them, as we’ve seen many times before.

Source: TBS News, Twitter/@yorozuya_1
Top image: Pakutaso (1, 2) (Edited by SoraNews24)
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