They’re just giving drugs away!
My blog seems to have taken a slight drugs theme… not sure what the reason is but it’s nothing too sinister. I just read this story and it had me laughing, so I thought you would appreciate it too. Just as the week was starting to look normal, the Japanese authorities make sure I walk around with a smile on my face!
So let’s picture the scenario: you’ve just arrived in Tokyo after a 12-hour flight from the UK. You’re weary, jet-lagged and quite thrown by all the neon lights and kanji (Chinese characters) that you see around you. You queue up for immigration, get your photo and fingerprints taken, declare that you’re not Osama Bin Laden and have no intention of killing Hello Kitty or anything like that. You pick your bag up from the luggage carousel and get the train into the centre of Tokyo. Still trying to listen carefully for any English that might help you, you get a taxi to your hotel and check in. Now all you need is a relaxing shower, so you open your suitcase to get your toiletries out. What’s this? There’s a small metal box in your suitcase. You’re sure you didn’t pack it yourself so you tap it a few times and then open it up. Upon opening it, you find it’s full of 146g of cannabis, with a street value of Y1 million!
Your first reaction is probably “What the…”, followed by a little fear about what should you do. You’ve read Dave’s blog and know that the police are not the most effective at investigations; going to the police station with a bunch of cannabis telling them you found it in your suitcase might have you eating rice & fish heads in a prison for some time. You then start to wonder who could have done this. Was it the shady businessman who wore the dark glasses through the entire flight? The dreadlocked, unwashed guy on his way to Thailand through Tokyo? The Japanese guy who pushed into you on the train?
Well, no. The answer was the customs official at Narita Airport! The official had been told to walk through the customs check himself with this metal box containing the cannabis, so that the sniffer dog could be tested, and make sure all their anti-drug systems are intact. Instead, the customs official thought it would be much more fun to open up someone’s luggage (despite this being prohibited) and place the drugs in there. But this official didn’t count on 2 things:
1: The sniffer dog would be completely inept and not pick up the drugs at all.
2. The customs official would trump this inaptitude and forget which suitcase he put the drugs in.
Yup, you really can’t make stuff like this up. “Welcome to Japan! Have your fingerprints ready, smile for your anti-terrorism photo and please ensure you don’t leave the airport with any drugs our officials may have planted on you. Enjoy your stay!” But it’s OK; the man has been reprimanded by the head of customs in Narita. Don’t worry - nobody needs to lose their job or be in serious trouble about this; it was just a simple mistake. Tell you what: it certainly makes you think about those people who are stuck with life sentences or worse for having drugs found in their luggage. Were they guilty, had some drug dealer put it in their bags, or was it customs at an airport not admitting their mistakes?
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