Japanese woman held at Sydney airport on drug smuggling charge

given her age I'd say she was victim to an online scam. Possibly one involving marriage. Whatever the reason she's done

62 is no great age. People don't suddenly lose their common sense when they reach pensionable age.

It's either there, or it isn't.

Anyway, as usual, we don't have all the facts or details.

Invalid CSRF

She probably did it for money/drugs. It's inaccurate to state that older people aren't into drugs or crime.

Drug mule.  for the money my guess.

Many of these older smugglers are forced into it by the yakuza. She most likely either borrowed from a loan shark or ran up a gambling debt. This is a fringe benefit of these rackets for gangsters. Gives them a steady supply of slaves to do their bidding.

Don't understand why the Kyodo report says her name has been withheld. It was in the Sydney Morning Herald and other newspapers.

There is a lot more to this story. It's highly unlikely a 62 year old Japanese woman would have the connections to access 2kg of meth for the purpose of smuggling.

Never carry anything someone asks you to carry onto a plane. Tell them to mail it instead. "I'm sorry, my bag's too full." If she's guilty, I'm guessing it was a pachinko debt. If casino's start opening, there will probably be more news like this, sadly.

Maybe she wanted to be caught.

She thought it was washing up powder.

A 62-year-old Japanese woman has been arrested for allegedly attempting to import 2 kilograms of methamphetamine into Australia

Good job!

The woman, whose name has been withheld

Miyashita Kazumi, you mean? Oops!

@Mizuame

Oddly enough, yesterday's NHK broadcast mentioned her name. Then again, her name was shown in katakana...

62 is no great age.

The heck its not. Genetics and failure to take care of oneself can have you pretty daffy at that age. Younger people are more resilient. Fact is, people can downhill real fast from 45 if they are not careful.

At least she will be entitled to have a lawyer present during questioning.

Her human rights will be respected, and if married, be allowed to contact her husband.

She will be persumed innocent until proven guilty.

She will get a fair trail before a real judge, and not just a rubber stamping judge.

You play stupid games, you win stupid prizes.

62 is no great age. People don't suddenly lose their common sense when they reach pensionable age.

Unfortunately, that's not exactly true. There's a reason you see so many older people falling for scams.

It’s been shown that people actually become more trusting as they age. It’s a change in brain chemistry.

In 2002 a Japanese woman (42) was jailed for 10 years in Melbourne for drug importation. She was travelling with two Japanese men one of whom had yakuza connections. There was no evidence linking the woman to the drugs but because it could not be determined who exactly was guilty they were all jailed. The trial was something of a fiasco with the Interpreter seen to be consulting his language dictionary on numerous occasions. Hardly confidence inspiring. Hopefully,at least the woman has a competant interpreter.

2K is quite heavy for a traveller.  I don't see how she could claim that she wasn't aware that something was up.

Arrives from where?  And what is her employment status?  :)

I would say very lucky for her she was caught in Australia but not in Indonesia or Philippines or other 3th world country. She would be as good as dead. Here she will at least get some kind of a fair trial. Good luck to her though.

Why is her name being withheld? Is she a minor at 62 years old? My guess is it's because she's an unwilling mule. Never accept to carry another person's luggage, peeps, and never leave yours out of sight. Japanese commonly leave things on table or luggage at airports to go to the washroom or up to order, and someone could have slipped it in. Not saying that's what happened, but it wouldn't surprise me. Japan is quite safe, and I love that fact, but the whole leaving stuff on tables or spaces while you walk, often out of sight, to do something... no good.

Arrives from where? 

Dubai apparently.

Why is her name being withheld?

It's not. Her name is Miyashita Kazumi.

Age has little to do with it; every Japanese knows that drugs are evil, more so than in the west!

62???????? I guess pension benefits aren't what they used to be!

In 2002 a Japanese woman (42) was jailed for 10 years in Melbourne for drug importation. She was travelling with two Japanese men one of whom had yakuza connections. There was no evidence linking the woman to the drugs but because it could not be determined who exactly was guilty they were all jailed. The trial was something of a fiasco with the Interpreter seen to be consulting his language dictionary on numerous occasions. Hardly confidence inspiring. Hopefully,at least the woman has a competant interpreter.

Australia's justice system is not a hostage system. The interpreter will want every nuance covered.

Court Intetpeters in Japan are generally good, and take an oath of impartiality. But if being questioned by the prosecutor in Japan my advice would be, don't answer any questions to the interpeter present when he or she says "off the record". They are not impartial, dispite saying that they are.

This could be that she was duped into carrying drugs without realizing. Or she did it for a love scam, wanting to help out someone under false pretenses. Or, maybe she had debts and did it willfully to deal with them. Or maybe she just wanted money.

All sorts of speculation. Zero facts. So the speculation is pretty much useless.

StrangerlandToday  12:10 pm JST

This could be that she was duped into carrying drugs without realizing.

Get a grip, I've been here almost 20 years, you think there is no drugs trade?

Get a grip, I've been here almost 20 years

Been here over 20 myself.

you think there is no drugs trade?

Um, no, which is why I never made such a silly claim.

Would you care to address the post I actually wrote instead of what you wanted me to have written?

You don't smuggle meth from Japan to Australia. You can get a MUCH higher price here in Japan than Australia because it is so scarce. Just like any other illegal drug.