Crime Record-breaking 190kg of stimulants seized at Narita Airport

This sort of news seems to become ever more frequent: this time, it's a 190-kilogram stimulant bust at Narita Airport. I couldn't find any mention of what kind of stimulants were seized.


Authorities announced on 12 February that a Guatemalan man has been arrested for allegedly smuggling approximately 190 kilograms of stimulants into Japan, the largest amount ever seized from air cargo in the country. Tokyo Customs' Narita branch and the Narita International Airport Police Station reported that 31-year-old Angel Eduardo Billingslea Gonzalez was taken into custody for smuggling the drugs, which have an estimated street value of 12.54 billion yen (around $81.25 million). The charges include violations of the Stimulants Control Act, among others. He has since been handed over to prosecutors.

The man is specifically accused of smuggling roughly 190 kg of stimulants hidden in hot-water tanks when they were shipped from Guatemala to Narita Airport on 14 July 2024. The substances were disguised as insulation materials that coated the tanks. The stimulants were uncovered during a customs inspection, and the man was arrested on the spot when he visited a location in Tokyo to pick them up on 2 September. He was indicted on 11 October. According to the Narita Branch Customs, a total of 12 cylindrical hot-water tanks, each measuring some 165 centimetres long and roughly 40 cm in diameter, were used for the smuggling. Bags each containing several hundred grams of stimulants were put in the gap of the double-layered tanks to make them appear as insulation materials.

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Meth most likely.

What kind of stimulants are we talking about here? Tea, or more hardcore stuff like coffee and guarana?

I doubt 190 kilos of coffee or guarana would fetch 百二十五億四千万円.

thomas said:

I doubt 190 kilos of coffee or guarana would fetch 百二十五億四千万円.

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I mean, gyokurou can be REALLY expensive.

Maybe they were going to trade it for rice?