RECORD HAUL FOR CANNABIS, ECSTASY

Customs officials seized 1,030 kg of illegal drugs smuggled into Japan in
2001, with record amounts of cannabis and designer drugs confiscated, the
Finance Ministry said Thursday. The amount was the third-largest after
2,186 kg in 1999 and 1,389 kg in 2000, and the third straight year the
total amount of drugs seized exceeded 1 ton.

Japanese customs confiscated a record 797 kg of cannabis and a record
118,000 pills of the designer drug Ecstasy. The drugs seized also include
202 kg of stimulants and 90 psychotropic drug pills.

A ministry official said drug abuse remains high despite the fall in the
total amount of drugs confiscated, and that smuggling is more organized
than before.

The official added that the decline in smuggling reflects tightened airport
security worldwide in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

Meanwhile, the ministry said Japanese customs seized a record 956 stolen
vehicles to be smuggled out of Japan in 2001, up from 247 the year before.