Man in possession of marijuana locks himself in car in Ginza

"siege"? Only in Japan.

It happened at 4:20? You've got to be kidding me!

lol, what a moron. i bet they wouldn't be searching if he just complied.

why didnt he smoke it when he was 'sieging' ?

I don't know what the bigger surprise of this is; that this is even a story, or that the cops actually stopped someone for going through a red light!

*nisegaijin lol, what a moron. i bet they wouldn't be searching if he just complied

.* exactly! that is not something the j-cops usually look for. & as their duty was most likely just checking for cars running thru the light, the wouldn't enforce anything else.

"He won't open the door! Now what do we do?"

He should have ate it.

Charged with possessing Marijuana, but not for the traffic violation for which they stopped him in the first place?

Im with swingaway, the biggest shock is that someone was stopped for running a red light. I wonder how much revenue could be made from ***actually enforcing*** Japans habitually ignored traffic laws...

forget cost cutting measures and a hike in the consumption tax, just install red light cameras throughout japan and all will be solved... financially.

Dumbass!! Guarentee this guy could have got off clean not even getting a ticket..if he wouldn't have panicked. All he had to do was give them a sumimasen and he would have been at home chillin.

I would have ate it too. 420, unreal...

The police must be getting tough on red light offences. We all know that in Japan the first 3 or 4 seconds of a red light aren't really a red light, it seems to be still a blazing green to most motorists, especially if you have good momentum and can't be bothered to slow down and stop for the last 60 feet.

This sounds like something that would happen in one of those quirky police dramas. Perhaps he would have still acted suspiciously even if he had opened the door, some people can't keep their cool I guess.

"This sounds like something that would happen in one of those quirky police dramas." kokoro: Somehow I don't think cops standing around for 25 minutes and on the radio with headquarters would make a compelling TV drama.

I bet the cops are high fiving in the koban today with that big bust they made totally by chance thinking they did it with their police skills.

I would also guess he might have thought that the cops were trailing him for possessing weed not realizing he had run the red light.

I see the state thugs are at it again, gotta get their cut somewhow right?

He was quoted by police as saying it was for personal use.

30g to last for 3, 30 or 300 days?! Use of force by police was not necessary, Police should have tested his patience :)

man,,,he should have had more, then he would be more relaxed....

I bet the cops are high fiving in the koban today with that big bust they made totally by chance thinking they did it with their police skills.

Japanese police are grim and soulless. they don't smile and they never high five.

paulinusa -- But that's why it would be funny, because it's so ridiculous. And in the drama they wouldn't show all 25 minutes, obviously, haha. Really, mostly I meant the part where they come crashing in through the back window and find the guy's stash. I can see the hilarious expression on the talento-detective's face as finds it.

But if he opened the door that would have let the spiders in...

Hot box yo.

Hotbox.

i would like to see all of you eat over an ounce of grass.

i would like to see all of you eat over an ounce of grass.

I've done it back in Hawaii. Doesn't taste good, but it saved me from getting caught.

lol Guess you've never been at a wedding or a booze-up with a bunch of them? I only ask them for directions. never saw them high five once even if they were drunk at the time.

4:20! classic...

bobba - if they're in uniform so's you know to ask them directions, they're hardly likely to be drunk.

Hopefully...

I'm assuming Tsukiji police stations is near all that good sushi at Tsukiji fish market? If so, what a great place to get the munchies!

I hope, if he was going to be that stupid anyway, that he at least sparked up and made the most of those 25 minutes. :)

The Japanese police in this case I believe did the right thing. If law enforcement agencies request you do something, you are legally required to comply. In all of my experiences in Japan (a cumulative 22 years), I've always found the J-Police to be friendly, courteous, extremely polite, and professional, this includes those here in Okinawa. If this had been the U.S., they would have drawn their weapons on him in a heartbeat and most likely physically beaten the daylight out of him after gaining access to him. He's lucky this was Japan and not the U.S.

Guy: "I'm not getting out!!" Police: "I have snacks!" Problem solved.

The Japanese police need some training in dealing with marijuana addicts, most importantly the importance of carrying some cheesy nachos and soda to resolve any "seiges".

The Japanese police in this case I believe did the right thing. If law enforcement agencies request you do something, you are legally required to comply....He's lucky this was Japan and not the U.S.

At least in the States, suspects have some rights, like having the right to not consent to a search of your car, etc... Cops have basically unlimited power here and no oversight. Doesn't sound too good to me.

In the States, you lock yourself in the car, two seconds later your windshield is busted and you are tazed.

So it depends on how you look at it.

In the States, you lock yourself in the car, two seconds later your windshield is busted and you are tazed.

Really? Is that against the law?

In the States, you lock yourself in the car, two seconds later your windshield is busted and you are tazed.

Certainly not the wind-shield. It's double laminated glass.

The time, the time....darn. Isn't that just too much of a coincidence? Was buddy in a hurry? Maybe to get somewhere so he can start hitting his ozzie? Or were there friends waiting for him? Dude, you have to make it here for 4:20, and buddy realized he spent too much time playing with the iPads at the Apple store cause he was all zoned out and had to rush. Man, in some provinces of some countries I would not mention here, but I'm sure at that particular time, even the cops are taking a tea break.

If law enforcement agencies request you do something, you are legally required to comply.

that's incorrect: there must be justifiable cause for j-cops to ask for personal identification or do any kind of search. look it up..

In all of my experiences in Japan (a cumulative 22 years), I've always found the J-Police to be friendly, courteous, extremely polite, and professional

glad you didn't add 'competent' to that list of positive attributes.

as for the us vs. japan argument, in some (us) states 30 grams or less is classed as a misdemeanor. that means more time for the accused to get his life back on track, and less law enforcement and judicial resources completely wasted.

the 4:20 thing is funny as hell..

It happened at 4:20? You've got to be kidding me!

Nice catch. That's great.

Taka

Credit goes to the police & their HQ for look at all the drugs he was carrying. Better luck to them in the future.

Unfortunately we have a maze of drugs being sold or used in this Province of B.C., Canada, but then remember some of us do NOT touch said illegal drugs & the strain on any police departments is upon the legal tax payers.

he was hotboxing. this is nothing new.

Illegal search and entry is common here.

A "seige" eh? Sounds pretty tame but the guy must have been so baled it took him 25 minutes to figure out what he was going to do.

Ok he had a stash, but what a waste of police time and resources. It's a victimless crime. Legalize Now (not that it'll happen in our lifetime in japan!)

It's a poor translation - what happened according to the Japanese press is that when the guy was pulled over, he refused to roll down (open) his window, which led to the police entering the vehicle by force because his behaviour was deemed to be highly suspicious.

If he had simply rolled down the window and given them his license, he would have been fine. Assuming he was concerned about the odor of the mary jane, if he had even exited the vehicle, license and shaken papers in hand, and closed the door behind him, he still would have been fine.

Instead, he sat there in a panic, and provided them with reasonable cause for a search.

He needed time to smoke the rest of it.

Man in possession of marijuana locks himself in car in Ginza and smokes it all up

This means that the Japanese police officers carry out their duties strictly by the book and with high integrity. If the same scenario happened in Malaysia then the suspect will have several bullets inside his head.

If he didn't get so paranoid about having the stash....the police would have given him a warning about running the light...and he could have proceeded to the party (smile)...

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Typhoon_Tom "He's lucky this was Japan and not the U.S." well yes and no. it is true that the J-cops were more patient with him than cops in any u.s. city would have been. but the actual penalty for what he was holding is not a big deal in america, and he'll get "fried" in a bad way for possessing this much in Jpn.