crime

Philippines confirms fugitive stripper Minako Komukai arrived in Manila

78 Comments

The Philippine immigration bureau confirmed Thursday the arrival of stripper, actress, TV personality and former bikini model Minako Komukai in Manila last month and said there is so far no record of her exit.

Komukai, 25, is wanted in Japan for possession of amphetamines in February 2009. Immigration records show she arrived Jan 21 on a Delta Airlines flight from Tokyo. Under Philippine law, she can stay 21 days in the country as a tourist and may seek extension for up to 59 days by applying for a visa waiver and paying necessary fees.

An intelligence officer of the immigration bureau said there is no record Komukai has applied an extension to her visa or of her leaving the Philippines.

Police in Tokyo issued a warrant for her arrest this week.

A spokesperson for a management agency that dealt with Komukai before she was found guilty of amphetamine possession in February 2009 said, "We have received no information indicating that Komukai is in the Philippines."

Meanwhile, a talent management agency that worked with Komukai until October of last year said in a statement, "We have never heard that she is fond of the Philippines or that she is a regular visitor there, so we cannot speculate about why she might be there now."

After her arrest in 2009, Komukai was given an 18-month prison term, suspended for three years. She only worked periodically last year, mainly as a stripper and in a bondage film.

The latest indictment came after police arrested a gang of Iranian and Japanese drug dealers last summer and Komukai's name was among their list of customers.

© Compiled from news reports

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.


78 Comments
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Can she be arrested only on the basis of her name appearing on a list? It would take a lot more than that to get a conviction in the west.

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Drug dealers keep customers names on a list here ?

Are these people stupid or what?

They deserve to get busted for stupidity!!

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I just googled some images of her and she's welcome to hide out in my house for as long as likes. In fact, she can have my house.

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I wish the police could put the same amount of energy into apprehending the numerous amount of crazy people performing the ride-by slashings with box cutters and knives.

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I would not ever come back to Japan if I were her..

How sad is this country sometimes!

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koiwaicoffee at 09:45 AM JST - 10th February

I would not ever come back to Japan if I were her.. How sad is this country sometimes!

Why is this country sad for trying to find her after she's done something illegal? Isn't that normal? And to compound the situation, if she is in fact innocent, then why hide? She's obviously hiding something.

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paulinusa, normally they don't need any evidence at all to convict you in Japan. Here is the procedure:

Prolonged (months/years) detention and interrogation with no bond or release

A signed confession.

Guilty as charged...yaay, we protected the 98% conviction rate that proves how excellent Japanese police work.

I'll leave it to your imagination to fill in details of what happens during the "interrogation" mentioned in step 1.

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Never keep a list of bad stuff you do.

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ridiculous. chasing her because her name is on a list.

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A list proves nothing. Could've been fabricated. Now to book that ticket to the Philippines? Pure fear of the guilty before innocent system.

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just another reason to go to the Phillipines now! As if I needed another....

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Tahoochi at 9:53 AM JST - 10th February

"Why is this country sad for trying to find her after she's done something illegal? Isn't that normal? And to compound the situation, if she is in fact innocent, then why hide? She's obviously hiding something."

I can think of 3 reasons...

1) This country labels drug USERS in at almost the same catagory as hard criminals and are stigmitized and generally shunned by society. Instead she should be treated for her addiction not simply caught and locked up.

2) They are after her with more zeal than a regular person simply because she is known as a "talent" which is wrong, ie the police are putting on a nice show for the media.

3) They are wasting our tax money on an international manhunt for a person who is only hurting herself by using drugs... ie she is not a dealer.

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check out her bondage pictures. Hot

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I see took my advice, that is, if you even think yr in trouble with the law, even if you know yr innocent, its best to flee Jpn, because simply it is almost impossible to get a fair trial here, keep this in mind folks cud come in handy!

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Those of you sympathizing with her should remember that she was dealt with leniently the first time she was caught. She was given a suspended sentence, which for most people, would be a wake-up call. The selling and use of stimulants is a serious crime.

I think that some jail or rehab time is better for Komukai, so now is not the time to flee to the Philippines, if that is, in fact, what she has done. It will only make matters worse for her.

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Stripper, actress, TV personality and former bikini model

That is one classy resume

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and also, why use your REAL name when buying drugs? DUH!

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she's going to get more meth, thats why

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chinpira: I have noticed after reading years of Japanese celebrity drug cases that the police do seem to have a "Inspector Javert" quality to their investigations (persecutions?). I'm sure this will turn into a relentless pursuit of Ms. Komukai in the Phillipines.

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Philipines should stop supplying the meth to Japan and Canada and stop giving refuge to wrong-doing neighbor citizens.

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"check out her bondage pictures. Hot:

Just did and I must say big boobs don't turn me o~~~ OK the wifes gone now and all I can say is Hell Yea!

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"She only worked periodically last year, mainly as a stripper and in a bondage film."

Will check it out.

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another young lady with her head in the vanity corrupted by the yakuza run talent agencies and sex industry...

maybe she should have absconded to the usa, mde a bondage film with lohan and cyrus for disney?

what is all this talk of list? she's under suspended sentence of 3 years and buying amphetamines? you would think one of her underworld contacts would simply have been providing it gratis; a rather strange and sordid tale.

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Jkanda : How sure are you that Philippines is the supplier of meths to Japan? can you give me where did you get these reliable sources? giving refuge to wrong doing neighbour??? why would Philippines know about Minako Komukai??? it's Japanese Immigration's fault for not giving her travel ban asap and for not giving Phil. immigrations a heads up about her.

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Yup, good 'ole GUILTY by ASSOCIATION....typical "Police Work" in J-Pan.

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This chick should be celebrated not imprisoned.

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This is where Japan flops. Its amazing how the public sees drug users on the same level as rapists. While a big part of the public are alcoholics and tobacco addicts.

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Komukai’s name was among their list of customers

Present customers? Past customers? Potential customers?

after a warrant for her arrest was issued this week.......... left Japan for Manila on Jan 21

Help me with the time line.....January 21st was about 4 weeks ago. So she left before the warrant was issued, right?

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I feel sorry for her, she needs help with her addiction.

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Jkanda at 12:32 PM JST - 10th February

Philipines should stop supplying the meth to Japan and Canada and stop giving refuge to wrong-doing neighbor citizens.

Jkanda: you have no proof that drugs supply came from Philippines.

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Techall, I agree, the timeline is absurd. Fleeing an arrest weeks in advance despite the arrests of the traffickers being last summer? If she had run after the bust in the summer it would make sense. Why do they take so long to go through phone records anyway? It's just what they do when they want to put in some overtime or what? That said, it's been a long time and no-one's heard from her? She may not have been using at all after her initial arrest, but for someone with an amphetamine addiction to disappear in the Philippines for a long time....

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Didn't know that amphetamine enhanced large boobs!

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The police should investigate who leaked the news of the impending warrant !!

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Yes, she is HOT!!

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We all know there is plenty of work for a stripper in the Philippines.

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That is one classy resume

You forgot "convicted meth user."

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For those wanting proof, what do you want copies of bill of lading? Or maybe just google taima dot org and you can read up a bit. Or by the way, meth helped a lot of girls to stay in shape. Minako Komukai was flabby when she was not using meth.

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chinpira at 11:57 AM JST - 10th February

1) This country labels drug USERS in at almost the same catagory as hard criminals and are stigmitized and generally shunned by society. Instead she should be treated for her addiction not simply caught and locked up.

She's Japanese, and she's an adult. She may need treatment, but she knows fully well what the ramifications of her actions including running away (assuming she did run away). Maybe treating drug abusers as hard criminals like you say, is why Japan has significantly less problems with drugs than say the US? Ever thought of it that way? But I do agree with you on the treatment though.

2) They are after her with more zeal than a regular person simply because she is known as a "talent" which is wrong, ie the police are putting on a nice show for the media.

Yes, that's unfortunate... so, who are you blaming? The cops? The media? Still doesn't mean she should run away (assuming she did run away)

3) They are wasting our tax money on an international manhunt for a person who is only hurting herself by using drugs... ie she is not a dealer.

Even if you get rid of dealers, a new crop of them will come out, as long as there is demand from the users. In other words, users may be the victim of addiction, but they are certainly not innocent. Buy a measly gram of any illegal drug, and you're supporting the cartels, or whoever it is that law enforcement officials all over the world are at war with, and in some cases, being killed.

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JKanda: Blogs and internet pages are not reliable proofs dude, Give us more reliable source, like Cases or a single case of Philippines importing meths to Japan,when and where it happened? not just speculations or some trivia from google. Plus if you are reading the news properly, the news is about Komukai running to the Philippines, not Philippines supplying drugs to her.

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OK yeah she's hot.

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Stupid witchhunt. She is not a threat to anybody. Waste of taxpayers money.

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I think most people in Japan who have come up against the law do get advanced warning of an arrest warrant or a trial. They then hang around until they receive notification that they must hand themselves in. It's all cut-and-dried and most people obey. This could even be taken into account at your trial.

To flee the country will really mess things up for her, unless she has no real emotional attachment to Japan. I wonder what will happen to her passport. Will she have to become a Philippino national? Maybe then she could come back on an 'entertainment' visa.

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JT - In future when posting stories relating to strippers, etc, please post their 3 sizes. :0

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network of jp and foreign dealers caught but this chick makes the news because she's hot, famous, and her number was on their cell phones.

I know which story would be more interesting to me. where are the photos and names of the alleged network of dealers?

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Yeah, the time line doesn't make much sense. Dealers arrested last summer and they issued a warrant for her arrest this week? She fled before the warrant? I suppose she may have found out that the cops were onto to her but that brings another question up...How the heck can they arrest her on the basis that her name was on some drug dealers list?!! No proof of possession there. Not even any proof that she has used the drug recently. Just evidence that some dealer knew her name. but then anyone who watches strippers and/or porn will know her name, right? More 'justice' for those evil people who use illegal drugs in Japan

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Maybe she's holed up with LILO.

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Well, if she's desperate for the waiver money I'm sure she can find some ways to get it pretty easily, given her career and what not.

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She was on a 3-year suspended sentence for the same thing. If she's caught doing it again, she goes to jail.

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This is new,now the drug dealers are asking for some ID,I bet micky mouse and popeye are on that list to,any innocent persons name can be on that list. Fugitive,thats a bit harsh,someone has been reading to many crime novels.

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Amphetamines is some nasty stuff.

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...now i've read the last sentence of the article and see the "list".

if she's on a suspended sentence for meth use, she has probably been prohibited from associating with users and dealers. if the list leads to electronic messages--like text messages to/from here mobile phone--maybe she is violating the terms of her suspended sentence.

doesn't seem like she would flee (if she did) for nothing, and just because your name is on somebody's list would not seem to be definitively incriminating.

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I'm not saying she's innocent, but if her name is on a list of customers, couldn't that have been before her original arrest and conviction?

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I am starting to admire that woman with her multi careers.

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You know the YAKUZA, the Japanese mafia must be behind this mess, the Philippines is full of cheap, scummy Japanese yakuza going their for prostitution, drugs etc..so I am not surprised she chose the Philippines as a place to escape from Japanese law, where her yakuza connections must be protecting her and then these yakuza also DO NOT WANT HER TO TALK to tell the Japanese police where she really got her DRUGS, not just from some random Iranjin, right?? Where did this Iranian get the drugs to sell them to her etc..??? My guess, she will end getting killed off there in the Philippines, to keep her from naming any YAKUZA,yup, what a mess!

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So if these dealers put Naoto Kan as a customer, would he automatically get a jail sentence? Seems like the J-Cops put more faith in phone records than actually seeing the woman with any type of drug. Typical bumbling keystone cops. And yes, a waste of money going after someone who allegedly "used" the drug.

And she can get very lost down there. As long as she has enough money to live for a lot of years. Pay off the locals and she'll have no issues.

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This could be the basis for a reality show - Fugitive Stripper.

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Fugitive Stripper? Wondering if all the sensational names are really necessary. Cant we just call her Minako Komukai? Next up, Dirty Whore Fugitive Stripper?

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Indicted for being on a list? What about...umm...evidence and questioning first? No wonder human rights groups slam Japan's (in)justice system.

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Maybe she is just on holiday, avoiding a cold, miserable Japan?

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and having a puff

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Another case of perverted justice in Japan. Just drop it!

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I like the description "fugitive stripper". Is being a stripper all she is famous for? And are we sure she is on the run? This will likely make a great movie - which tarento could we get to play Minako-chan?

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I don't see how they can get her for possession even if her name is on a list. Maybe somebody posed as her. I guess they want to get her soon enough to get a hair sample. But she saw that Noripi didn't run long enough, so she got out of Japan. I suspect that like Noripi, she knows she will fair very badly if she testifies against anybody but a foreigner.

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Jkanda at 12:32 PM JST - 10th February Philipines should stop supplying the meth to Japan and Canada and stop giving refuge to wrong-doing neighbor citizens...REALLY NOW,Jkanda huh?!...HAVE YOU BEEN IN THE PHILIPPINES THAT YOU KNOW ALL THE DETAILS ABOUT THE DRUG TRADE IN THE COUNTRY...AND MORE? WHY NOT TELL THAT TO YOUR COUNTRY'S FACE!!!

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Heard she was checking into the Betty Ford/Manila.

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I feel so much safer here now that I know she's been tracked down, we can't have dangerous people like this going unaccounted for. Besides it's time to renew the licence on my bike and I'd certainly hate to run afoul of the law.

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All these comments of "Westerners" trivializing drug use and criticizing J-police efforts in finding Komukai just basically confirms the huge difference in severity of drug related problems in Japan vs Western countries. Did you ever think that Japan is relatively drug-free compared to the Western world because of this type of activity to treat every case of drug abuse and drug trafficking so seriously? Or maybe some of you want Japan to have a bigger drug problem than they already have?

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Tahoochi: No. It is because those in Japan that want to use will get it somehow, but the prices are probably astronomical. Plus the fact that it is an island country makes getting the drugs in more difficult.

I agree, that tough penalties are great. No need for drug dealers. But to blatantly go on a witch hunt for a "famous person" just because she may be "Associated" with these dealers is crazy. The problem is the dealer network. Stop that and you cut it off at the head.

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All these comments of "Westerners" trivializing drug use and criticizing J-police efforts in finding Komukai just basically confirms the huge difference in severity of drug related problems in Japan vs Western countries.

What I think, is they blow drug problems completely out of proportion. A lot like certain other countries in this area do, where having possession of drugs, is a death sentence. This kind of overreaction, is just silly. Might as well punish possession of alcohol or tobacco in the same way.

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Molenir at 08:39 PM JST - 12th February

What I think, is they blow drug problems completely out of proportion.

...that's exactly the difference that I'm talking about.

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the police should put their " sincerest " effort in busting the yakuza instead of some minor drug user like this babe .

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Can you imagine the decrease in crime rate if they just legalize all drugs?

But noooo, they don't want it, so many government employees will lose their jobs over it.... Better waste all the tax payers money and chase lonely drug users around the world.

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Whilst the ol' 'Fugitive Stripper' line is a bit of a giggle, I have no objection to the way Japan chooses to police and deal with drug use. If you choose to get stoned in Japan, knowing the consequences, you have no-one to blame but yourself. I am a pretty liberally minded guy, but I live in a modern Western Country that makes all kinds of excuses for people who, high on Amphetamines and the like, do things like break into homes and beat old people to the brink of death for a few pathetic dollars. But we are so worried here about everybody's rights, that we are very quickly losing complete perspective on people's responsibilities. And violent crime associated with drugs is ever on the increase. We have become way too soft. Over Christmas I spent a month in Japan again, and the sense of security walking where ever I wanted when ever I wanted was so refreshing, and you can see that in the people on the street around you. There is a lot to be said for that. I can't do the same here in my home town.

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I agree with Tamarama. There's good and there's bad. You don't wanna get robbed/raped/assaulted while walking down a street in the middle of the night? Come to Japan. You want drugs? Don't come to Japan.

Said it in another article already: if you can't accept Japanese law, don't go there! Same for Shariah, Thai, Singaporean or any other law.

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Leave the girl alone

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yeah cool so happy that my taxes are using stupidly AGAIN... why does they dont arrest real criminal ? oh right sorry to do it they must work and everybody nows japanese police dont like it.

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I am sure is in violation of her parole for leaving the country as she still under suspended sentence.

Reports from there say that she put on quiet a bit of weight and apparently is taking pole-dancing lessons.

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Christ! All she was doing was getting high! Like the majority of human being who can`t face this greedy world straight! The police should go and catch some real crims, and not this unintimidating lady. Pff give her a kick in the ass and send her on her way.

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