VZCZCXRO8382
PP RUEHCN RUEHDBU RUEHDT RUEHGH RUEHKW RUEHPB RUEHVC
DE RUEHKO #5364/01 3330126
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 290126Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9834
INFO RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNNAR/VIENNA NARCOTICS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA PRIORITY 4626
RUEHNAG/AMCONSUL NAGOYA PRIORITY 3402
RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA PRIORITY 7029
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE PRIORITY 8292
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO PRIORITY 5288
RHMFIUU/US CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHHMUNB/JIATF WEST  PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/USFJ  PRIORITY
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEABND/DEA DISTRICT OFFICE HONOLULU HI PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 TOKYO 005364 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR INL - JOHN LYLE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR JA
SUBJECT: JAPAN INCSR PART I 
 
REF: STATE 136782 
 
TOKYO 00005364  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶I. Summary 
 
¶1.  Japan's efforts to fight drug trafficking comply with 
international standards; Japan is a party to the 1988 UN Drug 
Convention. Japan cooperates with other countries in 
intelligence sharing and law enforcement. Methamphetamine 
abuse remains the biggest challenge to Japanese antinarcotics 
efforts, marijuana use is widespread and MDMA (Ecstasy) 
trafficking has increased significantly. Cocaine use is much 
less prevalent but still significant. According to Japanese 
authorities, all illegal drugs consumed in Japan are imported 
from overseas, usually by Japanese or foreign organized crime 
syndicates. In spite of legal and bureaucratic obstacles, 
Japanese law enforcement officials are becoming more 
proactive in addressing the Japan's illegal drug distribution 
problem. Japanese Police have conducted several complex drug 
investigations during 2007, both independently and in 
cooperation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration 
(DEA) Tokyo. 
 
II. Status of Country 
 
¶2.  Japan is one of the largest markets for methamphetamine 
in Asia. A significant source of income for Japanese 
organized crime syndicates, over 80 percent of all drug 
arrests in Japan involve methamphetamine. MDMA is also a 
significant problem in Japan; over 1 million Ecstasy tablets 
had been seized by police as of November 2007, and officials 
say that they expect MDMA abuse to increase. Marijuana use 
has also grown steadily in Japan since 2000. Japanese 
authorities discovered their first domestic commercial 
marijuana "indoor grow" operation in 2007. Japan is not a 
significant producer of narcotics. The Ministry of Health, 
Labor and Welfare strictly controls some licit cultivation of 
opium poppies, coca plants, and cannabis for research. 
According to DEA and the National Police Agency, there is no 
evidence that methamphetamine or any other synthetic drug is 
manufactured domestically. 
 
III. Country Actions Against Drugs in 2007 
 
¶3.  Policy Initiatives. 
The Headquarters for the Promotion of Measures to Prevent 
Drug Abuse, which is part of the Prime Minister's Office 
(Kantei), announced the Five-Year Drug Abuse Prevention 
Strategy in July 2003. This strategy includes measures to 
increase cooperation and information sharing among Japanese 
agencies and between Japanese and foreign law enforcement 
officials, promotes greater utilization of advanced 
investigative techniques against organized crime syndicates, 
and mandates programs to raise awareness about the dangers of 
drug abuse. The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare added 
30 more drugs to its list of controlled substances in 2006 
with plans to add three more in 2008. 
 
¶4.  Law Enforcement Efforts. 
Japanese police are increasingly effective at gathering 
intelligence and making arrests in spite of legal and 
operational constraints, but their investigations are largely 
reactive in nature. Prosecutors do not have the 
plea-bargaining tools to motivate the assistance of 
co-defendants and co-conspirators in furthering 
investigation. Japan also has laws restricting the proactive 
use of informants, undercover operations, and controlled 
deliveries using a human courier. When laws and circumstances 
allow, proactive policing does occur. Although wiretapping 
remains infrequent, police are increasingly making use of 
legislation that took effect in 2003 authorizing the use of 
telephone intercepts. In addition, officials maintained 
detailed records of Japan-based drug trafficking, organized 
crime, and international drug trafficking organizations. 
Japan regularly shares intelligence with foreign counterparts 
and engages in international drug trafficking investigations. 
 
 
TOKYO 00005364  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶5.  The supply of methamphetamine appears to be on the rise. 
The mid-2006 closure of several methamphetamine mega-labs in 
Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines, combined with 
tightened security measures in the Sea of Japan, are believed 
to have been responsible for the spike in methamphetamine 
prices that lasted until mid-2007. Law enforcement officials 
believe that Chinese traffickers using supplies from China 
and Canada have now stepped in to fill the gap. 
Methamphetamine prices have returned to their May 2006 
levels, indicating a significant rebound in supply. 
 
¶6.  After a year of unremarkable interdiction results in 
2006, increased efforts by customs officials have produced 
dramatic results in 2007.  In August 2007 Police and Customs 
Officials seized 688,000 MDMA tablets, 155 kg of 
methamphetamine, and 280 kg of marijuana from a vessel 
originating in Vancouver, Canada. In the first half of 2007, 
police had seized 112 kg of methamphetamine, eight times more 
than the 14 kg confiscated during the same period in 2006. 
More than 1 million tablets of MDMA had already been seized 
by November, five times more than in all of 2006. Marijuana 
and cannabis resin seizures January - June were 12 kg and 83 
kg respectively, approximately the same as the previous year. 
Cocaine, heroin, and opium seizures remained roughly at their 
2006 levels. 
 
¶7.  Corruption. 
There were no reported cases of Japanese officials being 
involved in drug-related corruption in Japan in 2007. The 
government does not encourage or facilitate the illicit 
production or distribution of narcotics, psychotropic drugs, 
controlled substances, or the laundering of proceeds from 
illegal drug transactions. 
 
¶8.  Agreements and Treaties. 
Japan's parliament failed to agree on an anti-conspiracy bill 
for the fourth consecutive year. As a result, Japan still 
cannot ratify the UN Convention on Transnational Organized 
Crime. Japan is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention, the 
1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the 1972 
Protocol amending the Single Convention, and the 1971 UN 
Convention on Psychotropic Substances. An extradition treaty 
is in force between the U.S. and Japan, and a Mutual Legal 
Assistance Treaty (MLAT) went into effect in August 2006, 
Japan's first MLAT with any country. The MLAT allows Japan's 
Ministry of Justice to share information and cooperate 
directly with the Department of Justice in connection with 
investigations, prosecutions and other proceedings in 
criminal matters. 
 
¶9.  Cultivation/Production. 
Japan is not a significant cultivator or producer of 
controlled substances. The Ministry of Health, Labor, and 
Welfare's research cultivation program produces a negligible 
amount of narcotic substances purely for research purposes. 
 
¶10.  Drug Flow/Transit. 
Authorities believe that methamphetamine smuggled into Japan 
originates in the People's Republic of China (PRC), Taiwan, 
North Korea, Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and 
Canada. Drugs other than methamphetamine often come from the 
these same source countries, however airport customs 
officials have made several recent seizures of cocaine 
transiting from the United States, and authorities confirm 
that methamphetamine, MDMA, and marijuana are being imported 
in large quantities from Canada as well. Most of the MDMA in 
Japan originates in either the Netherlands or China. 
 
¶11.  Domestic Programs/Demand Reduction. 
Most drug treatment programs are small and are run by private 
organizations, but the government also supports the 
rehabilitation of addicts at prefectural (regional) centers. 
There are a number of government-funded drug awareness 
campaigns designed to inform the public about the dangers of 
stimulant use, especially among junior and senior high school 
students. The Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare, along 
 
TOKYO 00005364  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
with prefectural governments and private organizations, 
continues to administer national publicity campaigns and to 
promote drug education programs at the community level. 
 
IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs 
 
¶12.  Policy Initiatives. 
The United States will build on the successes of the last 
year by strengthening law enforcement cooperation related to 
controlled deliveries and drug-related money-laundering 
investigations. Other U.S. objectives include encouraging 
more demand reduction programs; supporting increased use of 
existing anticrime legislation and advanced investigative 
tools against drug traffickers; and promoting greater 
involvement from government agencies responsible for 
financial transaction oversight. 
 
¶13.  The Road Ahead. 
DEA Tokyo will continue to work closely with its Japanese 
counterparts to offer support in conducting investigations on 
international drug trafficking, money-laundering, and other 
crimes. DEA will continue to pursue an aggressive education 
and information-sharing program with Japanese law enforcement 
agencies to foster knowledge of money laundering 
investigations, and their relationship to narcotics 
trafficking and terrorist financing. 
 
¶V.  Charts: N/A 
 
VI. Chemical Control 
 
¶14.  The Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare uses 
licenses to control every step in the flow of trade in 
precursor chemicals, including all the substances listed in 
Table I and Table II of the 1988 UN Drug Convention. In 
addition, strict control of distribution channels further 
limits diversion into illicit activities. There are two 
companies in Japan that refine ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, 
chemicals used to treat nasal/breathing problems that are 
also essential ingredients in methamphetamine. Government 
regulations specify the type and security of storage 
facilities as well as inventory, disposal, and accounting 
requirements. On-site inspection is used to verify compliance 
with these requirements. Japan made it's first-ever seizure 
of illicit precursors in October when customs officials 
intercepted 168 kg of Pseudoephedrine transiting Japan from 
Hong Kong, bound for Mexico. 
SCHIEFFER