Japan confiscates largest-ever cannabis shipment

By Saadet Gokce

ISTANBUL (AA) - Japan confiscated a record amount of cannabis Wednesday, marking its largest-ever single-raid illegal drug haul, according to Kyodo News.

Japanese authorities seized 1.046 tons (2,306 pounds) of cannabis worth about 5.2 billion yen ($35 million), according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's Narcotics Control Department.

Three Vietnamese nationals were arrested by narcotics agents for allegedly smuggling the cannabis by concealing it in a shipping container as well as storing it at a materials yard in Tochigi Prefecture, north of Tokyo.

All three have been indicted on charges of breaking the narcotics control law.