Taiwanese man dressed as monk caught with drugs in Japan: Reports

Tokyo, Feb. 28 (CNA) A 21-year-old Taiwanese national was arrested at Narita International Airport in late January for trying to smuggle drugs into Japan by dressing himself as a monk, Japanese media have reported.

According to the reports on Tuesday and Wednesday, Narita customs officials were cited as saying that the Taiwanese man, identified by his surname Liu (劉), was found carrying six kilograms of drugs during a customs check after arriving from Cambodia on Jan. 25.

Liu packed the drugs -- reported to be a type of banned stimulant with a market value of 370 million Japanese yen (US$2.46 million) -- into 40 pouches that he secured on his stomach and thighs with a plastic wrap.

After his arrest, the man confessed to the attempted crime and he was later indicted by prosecutors for drug smuggling, according to the reports.

Customs officials at the Narita airport became suspicious of the man because he had successfully entered Japan on a separate trip just 10 days before, also dressed as a monk, the reports said.

They cited Liu as saying that the first trip he made was a trial run to see if he could smuggle drugs into Japan in a monk's robes, and once that worked he decided to try it again on Jan. 25.