10 ARRESTS; BOAT FROM TAIWAN 616 KG DRUG BUST LARGEST ON RECORD

KAGOSHIMA (Kyodo) A total 616 kg of stimulants were confiscated Sunday
evening along the Kurose shoreline of Kasasa, Kagoshima Prefecture, in the
largest domestic drug bust ever, police in Kagoshima and Fukuoka prefectures
said.

Police also arrested nine Chinese and Taiwanese men and one Japanese on
suspicion of violating the Stimulants Control Law by possessing the drugs
for profit. The Japanese was identified as Atsushi Ishii, 33, of Shiroi,
Chiba Prefecture.

The street value for the haul was estimated to be about Y36.96 billion.
Ishii and three other suspects were arrested while unloading the stimulants
from a rubber dinghy, police said.

Teng Ching-chih, 40, and four crew members of a Taiwan-registered fishing
boat were arrested offshore by the Maritime Safety Agency. One of the
five-member crew was from Hong Kong, and the rest were Taiwanese.

Police were also searching for several other men who fled the scene. The
ringleader was believed to be among them, investigators said.

The amount of stimulants seized in Sunday's bust topped the 528 kg
confiscated by police in Kanagawa Prefecture in July 1996. Sunday's seizure
also tops the total 549 kg taken by police nationwide during the whole of
last year, officials said.

According to investigators, a bag containing 19 kg of stimulants was found
on the same beach in April, and police were looking into possible links with
Sunday's bust. Police said the suspects were arrested after they ferried the
stimulants to the shore at around 9 p.m. They were apprehended just as they
were loading the drugs into two automobiles. Some of those under arrest are
denying the charges, police said without further elaboration. The stimulants
were placed in 28 bags weighing 22 kg each, and police also seized the
fishing vessel, investigators said. The vessel left Taiwan several days ago,
according to its records.

Local police worked with the Metropolitan Police Department and maritime
safety authorities to pull off the bust after Fukuoka police received a tip
in mid-August that a large amount of stimulants would be smuggled into the
country from that point, they said.

The Kurose coastline of Kasasa is an area with jutting rocks that few people
pass at night, making it an ideal spot for illegal drug operations, sources
familiar with the case said.

At the same time, the smuggling group had readied a rental car and each
member had an assigned role, indicating there was a highly organized group
involved.