crime

Canadian charged with trying to smuggle Y630 mil worth of stimulant drugs into Japan in guitar case

33 Comments

The Chiba District Public Prosecutors Office has indicted a 44-year-old Canadian musician on suspicion of attempting to smuggle approximately 9.8 kilograms of stimulant drugs into Japan by hiding them inside his guitar case.

Police said the stimulants had a street value of nearly 630 million yen.

The suspect, identified as Daniel Burton Whitmore, was charged with violating the Stimulants Control Law and the Japanese Customs Law, Fuji TV reported Friday. Police said the drugs were found beneath a false bottom in the guitar case after Whitmore arrived at Narita International Airport on a flight from Vancouver, Canada, on Dec 11.

According to the the Tokyo Customs Narita branch, Whitmore entered the country by stating his visit was for sightseeing purposes. Customs officers became suspicious of the musician when they noticed him sweating profusely, and because his guitar case seemed unusually heavy, prompting them to carry out an X-ray examination of his belongings. The stimulant drugs were discovered concealed inside his guitar case and multiple tea canisters.

Whitmore was quoted as saying he agreed to carry the drugs for an acquaintance because he was pressed for money and that he was supposed to deliver the drugs to a contact at a hotel in Narita City.

© Japan Today

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33 Comments
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The guy will be whacked as a group paid for them and lost them. Ivory is ok, drugs not, but drugs are a bad world. Ivory is “art”.

-15 ( +2 / -17 )

Over 20lbs, well he's going to regret that decision for many years. But at least he didn't pretend he knew nothing about it.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

Yesterday on the TV news they were saying he’d said he’d agreed to carry the stuff for a friend but didn’t know it was drugs.

You'd think going TO Japan they would have used something other than those tea canisters, which although I didn’t get a close enough look, appeared to have either Japanese or Chinese writing on them.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Do some people actually get through? It seems like a guitar case that was 10kg overweight would be pretty blatantly heavy.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

10kg? The sniffing dogs would feel it from 100m distance..

5 ( +8 / -3 )

The cops in other countries would have let him go through and waited until he met with the distributor and nabbed them all.

15 ( +19 / -4 )

Sadly, Disillusioned is probably right on the money there.

-2 ( +4 / -6 )

Silly silly silly.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Stimulant drugs is pretty vague. Was coke, meth or something else?

1 ( +4 / -3 )

The cops in other countries would have let him go through and waited until he met with the distributor and nabbed them all.

Only happens when cops have been tipped off, which wasn't the case here it seems. Reckon most cops in most countries would have done the same (certainly what we see in shows like 'to catch a smuggler', 'border security' etc i.e. drug mules are the ones who get caught).

Good job J police.

2 ( +6 / -4 )

If only there were a redo button for stupid decisions we make.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

It is easier to bust one sweating Canadian with a guitar than an office full of Yakuza in Nagoya.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

From Vancouver, eh? Thought as much. Vancouver could be a much nicer place, like it used to be, but the drug trade its their extensive "stakeholders" have turned parts of downtown and certain suburbs into hellish no-go zones, ever since the police stopped putting them in jail. Don't need that in Tokyo. Throw the book at him. Throw away the key.

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

Just like that silly woman in Egypt. At least he admitted the crime.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Don't copy him believing cops in other countries ignore. In. USA, many places, cops shoot you.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

"What's in the guitar case?"

"A guitar".

OK, let's have a look then shall we".

"Ah".

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

So... do ya think they let him go through with the transaction at "a Hotel in Narita City", and tried to catch the buyers in Japan?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Some dumb world champion waterskiing redneck from Australia had drugs sent to my house and tipped the cops off. He tried to frame me but didn't work. The cops were puzzled however about exactly how the drugs made it through the mail system.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Sorry. Help me with the math here.

1lb of meth is worth about $10,000 give or take a few thousand.

9.8kg is = to about 21.5 lbs which is equal to about $215,000

613,000,000 yen = $5,600,000 USD.

They are overestimating this bust, worst case, by $5 million dollars.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

1) You're assuming it was meth.

2) I would imagine they'd smuggle it pre-cut. Just shows how much rubbish is in a line.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

The cops in other countries would have let him go through and waited until he met with the distributor and nabbed them all

or maybe they waited so long to reveal this case because they got all the information they needed and just arrested his contacts? It seems quite silly to let him go.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Drugs do make it through to the organizations in control of them.....

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Customs Officer: Why is this guitar case so heavy?

Daniel: I'm a heavy metal guitarist.

Customs Officer: Thank you. Enjoy your stay!

2 ( +3 / -1 )

People do stupid things when they are desperate. With the cost of housing in Vancouver, this poor guy probably really needed the money.

I bet poor old "heat score" is regreting his bad decision now.

It was sure a scummy deal for Dan. As well as who ever he was going to meet. Or who ever sent him. All around stupidity.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

What kinda sentence is he looking at for This?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Most likely a meth sentence. :P

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Minimum 10 years at least

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

It looks like he’s “a punk rock and heavy metal musician who performs under the name Dan Scum” and his thing is to dress up like a demented clown. I guess that gig didn’t workout too well for him.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Japanese immigration and customs are the most thorough in the entire world. Customs checks everyone from their belonging to where you have been and where you plan to go. Even Australia and the United States do not check everyone to this detail. You’ve got to be a total idiot to try to smuggle anything into Japan, when it’s hard enough entering as a legitimate tourist having to explain that you don’t have an onward ticket because you plan to ferry over to Pusan from Shimonoseki, and you are going to search around for a low cost dorm room so you don’t know where you’re staying when you arrive to Japan. When legitimate tourists face hardship entering Japan without a clearly defined itenary, there isn’t any wiggle room for anyone to pull any fast ones like that.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Meth is demonized in the media. It is not such a bad drug. It is in the same family as Extasy and MDMA. You can purchase ephedrine at GNC and as almost the same affect. Doesn't kill people. It is a smart drug used by special forces and some people of the elite. The Japanese society is too straight and evolves slowly. What can you expect from massive guzzlers of Johnny Walker. chunkygalsforme: your comment is hilarious but it ios not because one dresses in a clown suit and plays heavy metal makes for a payback from been like that on stage. Kiss could deserve a good bad karma for their outrageously ridiculous outfits and make ups. As for Lushis Lee; thank you for your sympathy. I would hope that Daniel Burton Whitmore would be deported to Canada to serve a term of jail agreed between both Justice ministries of Canada and Japan. I know that Japanese can be stern but they should show leniency by deporting this young mislead man. Also, it is true that they should have let the trail go further. And, yes a full room of seating yakuzas in Nagoya must be quite a sight. But, mind you yakuzas can be pretty civilized citizens. My statement is not outrageous and does not reflect the position of JT. I hope they publish this post for the sake of this Scum guy !!!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Customs Officer: Why is this guitar case so heavy?

Daniel: He ain't heavy, he's my brother

Customs Officer: Thank you. Enjoy your stay!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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