NUMBER OF FOREIGN WOMEN DRUG COURIERS RISES IN 1998

OSAKA, May 3 (Kyodo) -- The number of foreign women caught allegedly trying
to smuggle drugs into Japan through Kansai International Airport for
suspected narcotic rings rose substantially last year, airport customs
officials said Monday.

The officials said 10 cases occurred in 1998 in which suspected smugglers
were caught trying to carry at least 1 kilogram of illegal drugs into the
country, the most recorded for a yearlong period since the western Japan
airport opened in September 1994.

Of the total, foreign women acted as suspected drug couriers on six
occasions. Before 1998, customs officials caught only one female foreign
drug courier, in July 1995.

Drug rings asked the women, particularly Caucasians, to carry narcotics
thinking they would have a higher chance of getting their assigned package
through Japanese customs, the officials said.

For example, one German woman who arrived at the airport from Thailand in
January 1998 was arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle 2 kg of marijuana
resin concealed in a can of cheese.

Upon questioning, she said she was paid the equivalent of 120,000 yen while
vacationing in Thailand to carry the drug into Japan, according to customs
officials.

Women from Israel, Britain and South Africa were also among those arrested
on a charge of possessing marijuana. With the exception of one case
involving South Africa, Asian countries were the source of narcotics in all
the cases.

Payment for carrying the drugs ranged from 120,000 to 520,000 yen, the
officials said.