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Tag - smuggling

 
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July 24, 2026
 

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SMUGGLING

This handout picture shows cocaine seized by Spanish police from a ship off the Canary Islands, following the detention of its 23-member crew without bail in Europe's largest-ever bust of the drug, in Madrid on May 8.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jul 15, 2026
A cocaine bust in Spain leads all the way to Wall Street
Investigations uncovered a network linking financiers with Wall Street connections, an Irish fintech trading crypto assets, luxury Dubai real estate and multiple offshore lenders.
A Phu Nhuan Jewelry JSC shop in Hanoi, Vietnam
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jul 15, 2026
Vietnam jeweler rocked as ex-official linked to gem smuggling
Police detained the former head of Phu Nhuan Jewelry¡¯s gem certification subsidiary over his alleged links to a transnational diamond-smuggling ring.
Two suspects, a Thai man (center) and his Laotian wife (not pictured), suspected of sending drug parcels from a border province to Bangkok, are escorted by officials to the Office of the Narcotics Control Board in Bangkok on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jul 5, 2026
How drug gangs use social media to recruit Thai air crew as couriers
Early in the morning on June 18, a message from an unknown account slipped into the TikTok inbox of a flight attendant in Bangkok with a series of questions: ¡°Are you flying to Australia? Do ?you do carry-for-hire? What is your rate?¡±
Industrial espionage, chip smuggling and drug trafficking are exposing Japan's growing economic security vulnerabilities.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Jun 29, 2026
Chinese spies and smuggled drugs fuel Takaichi¡¯s security push
Across a range of industries, Japan¡¯s economic-security vulnerabilities have been on display in a slew of recent incidents.
A trio of women in need of cash (from left: Sara Minami, Kasumi Arimura and Haru Kuroki) starts smuggling gold from Singapore in Chihiro Amano¡¯s ¡°Magical Secret Tour.¡±
CULTURE / Film
Jun 26, 2026
An implausible but engaging crime drama unfolds in ¡®Magical Secret Tour¡¯
In Chihiro Amano¡¯s ¡°Magical Secret Tour,¡± a trio of Japanese women becomes embroiled in a scheme to smuggle gold from Singapore.
Tokyo police arrested six people for allegedly smuggling 49 kilograms of gold bars worth about ?1,075 million from China by hiding the bars inside life-size dolls.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Crime & Legal
Jun 23, 2026
Six held for alleged gold-smuggling attempt from China
With an estimated worth of over 1 million yen the gold was concealed in life-size dolls.
The Nvidia logo at the company's annual developers conference in San Jose on March 16. Japan is one of many locations in Asia where Chinese companies access American AI chips ¡ª by renting hardware that¡¯s owned by foreign firms and installed in overseas data centers.
BUSINESS
May 28, 2026
Taiwan suspects Nvidia chips smuggled to China via Japan
Japan is one of many locations in Asia where Chinese companies access American AI chips ¡ª by renting hardware that¡¯s owned by foreign firms and installed in overseas data centers.
Bags containing methamphetamine within a shipping container. A 53-year-old Pakistani used-car dealer has been arrested by Tokyo police on suspicion of concealing stimulants in 18 of 742 bags of white powder used as a cosmetic that were found in a container from the United Arab Emirates.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Crime & Legal
Apr 7, 2026
Pakistani man arrested on suspicion of smuggling 270kg of stimulants into Japan
The 53-year-old Pakistani used-car dealer has been detained with five others for alleged smuggling the drugs, worth about ?14.3 billion, from the United Arab Emirates.
Seized cartridges containing etomidate are shown at Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture on Tuesday.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Crime & Legal
Jan 21, 2026
Thai woman arrested in Japan for smuggling ¡®zombie cigarettes¡¯
Tuela Kanwara was arrested and later indicted for allegedly smuggling 1,002 cartridges of the substance on a flight into Kansai International Airport.
The so-called Donald Trump Corollary revives a distorted Monroe Doctrine to legitimize bullying in the Western Hemisphere, increasing instability and the risk of wider conflict.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 31, 2025
Turning the Monroe Doctrine into ¡®Donroe¡¯ is awful geopolitics
For the Trump administration, as Jay Sexton points out, trolling libs like Kerry is of course another plus for the Donroe Doctrine.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a joint news conference in Palm Beach, Florida, on Dec. 29.
WORLD
Dec 30, 2025
Trump says U.S. hit dock for Venezuela drug boats
The attack could amount to the first land strike of the military campaign against trafficking from Latin America.
American playwright and actor Jeremy O. Harris has been released three weeks after his arrest in Japan on suspicion of drug smuggling while prosecutors investigate, police said Wednesday.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Dec 10, 2025
Japan releases ¡®Emily in Paris¡¯ star after drug arrest
Harris was detained at Naha Airport after customs officers found 0.78 grams of a substance containing the stimulant MDMA in the 36-year-old¡¯s tote bag.
Jeremy O. Harris at the Met Gala in New York in May
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Dec 5, 2025
U.S. playwright Jeremy O. Harris arrested in Okinawa for alleged drug smuggling
Known for his Tony-nominated ¡°Slave Play¡± and his appearance in the hit show ¡°Emily in Paris,¡± Harris was detained at Naha Airport on Nov. 16.
Three Japanese men (the three on the left) were charged in Kuala Lumpur on Monday for violating Malaysia¡¯s dangerous drugs law. The second man from the right, age 19, is pixelated.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Crime & Legal
Dec 2, 2025
Three Japanese charged in Malaysia for alleged marijuana smuggling
The three men were detained Nov. 18, upon arriving at Kuala Lumpur International Airport from Bangkok, as they were found to be carrying a total of 43.4 kilograms of marijuana.
U.K. gold bullion bars and coins are displayed at Baird & Co. in Hatton Garden in London.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Crime & Legal
Nov 21, 2025
Two men suspected of smuggling 1 ton of gold into Japan from South Korea
Investigators believe the pair traveled 216 times between South Korea and Japan from 2023 to 2024, smuggling roughly 1 ton of gold worth about ?10.8 billion.
U.S. Marines come ashore from a landing craft utility during training exercises in Arroyo, Puerto Rico, on Oct. 16.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Oct 21, 2025
In Trump¡¯s drug war, U.S. officials avoid tackling legal status of prisoners
The U.S. government chose not to use the term ¡°prisoners of war¡± to describe two survivors of an attack last week by the U.S. military.
U.S. President Donald Trump (left) on Sunday said that the U.S. is halting financial aid to Colombia, a longtime ally, as he accused Colombian President Gustavo Petroof of condoning the production of drugs.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 20, 2025
Trump cuts off U.S. aid to Colombia, calling Petro ¡®drug leader¡¯
The U.S. president accuses his Colombian counterpart of doing nothing to stop drug trafficking from becoming ¡°the biggest business in Colombia.¡±
Dried cannabis confiscated by police shown to media in Tokyo on Wednesday
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Crime & Legal
Aug 15, 2025
Japan makes its biggest drug bust ever
Authorities have seized roughly a metric ton of dried cannabis smuggled by ship from Vietnam worth around ?5.2 billion ($35.2 million).
Signs for fast-fashion factories in Prato, Italy, on Friday. Chinese crime groups in the district thrive on the "Prato system" rife with corruption in the fast-fashion sector.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 4, 2025
Italy¡¯s fast fashion hub becomes Chinese mafia battlefield
Gangs are battling to control Prato¡¯s production of clothes hangers ¡ª a market estimated to be worth €100 million ($115 million) ¡ª and the bigger prize of transporting apparel.
Buildings inside the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone along the Mekong river in the Bokeo province of Laos on May 26.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jul 15, 2025
¡®Las Vegas in Laos¡¯: the riverside city awash with crime
With the initial aim of attracting tourists with casinos and resorts, the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone quickly became a center for money laundering and trafficking.
Japan scientists identify clusters of protein believed to trigger Alzheimer¡¯s disease
A team of researchers said they found a ¡°seed¡± that accelerates the amyloid beta accumulation process in the brain, naming it ¡°Peak 1 amyloid beta,¡± as seen in a mouse's brain.
Indian brothers make manga debut in Japan
Two Indian brothers made their manga debut in Japan with "Kung Fu Kung Fool" ¡ª an action-comedy series that follows the adventures of a notorious thief and a young boy.
Japan weighs regulating Pokemon cards amid trading mania
A Pokemon event is held in Jakarta on July 11
Low-income families in Japan cut food and air conditioning during summer break
Yumiko Watanabe, the chairperson of nonprofit Kidsdoor, explains the results of a survey in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on July 1.
Iran strikes on CIA facilities prompt questions about possible Russian role
Iranian drones are displayed in an undisclosed location in Iran, in this handout image obtained on Jan. 13, 2025.U.S. officials have acknowledged that Russia has ?provided targeting ?and other support for Iran in its drone strikes on U.S. targets in the Persian Gulf region.
The sci-fi sensibilities of electronic trio Black Boboi
Black Boboi was formed in 2018 when solo artists Julia Shortreed, Utena Kobayashi and Ermhoi came together under Kobayashi¡¯s newly founded label, Bindividual.
A perfect storm: Kaze Fujii fans flock to Fuji Rock
Okayama-born singer-songwriter Kaze Fujii has carved out a distinctive place in Japanese pop since his major-label debut in 2019.
Can Japanese comedy get laughs in English? Yoshimoto Kogyo lets the jokes rip
Wes-P has millions of followers and his viral clips made him recognizable out of Japan.
The 180-day locals: Life on Japan¡¯s digital nomad visa
Christopher Flinn works remotely from Tokyo earlier this month. Japan issued 646 digital nomad visas in 2025, but tourism officials are hoping to increase that figure in the coming years, with Japan's relatively cheap cost of living and the weak yen seen as potential draws for young professionals.
Japan reveals hint of new defense spending target in fiscal blueprint
The Self-Defense Forces' Type 16 mobile combat vehicle fires during a joint live-fire drill with U.S. Marines as part of the annual Resolute Dragon exercises in Yufu, Oita Prefecture, on June 28.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

For many people, utility poles and power lines have become such a familiar part of Japan¡¯s landscape that they often go unnoticed.
Why Japan¡¯s utility poles won¡¯t be disappearing anytime soon
By Alex K.T. Martin

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