Two Japanese arrested with 1,360 kg of marijuana bricks at Bontoc checkpoint
Police arrested two Japanese nationals at a Bontoc checkpoint after finding 1,360 kilograms of marijuana bricks, an amount that could carry the death penalty in the Philippines; investigators examined whether the pair meant to move the cannabis on to Japan.
Police arrested Shunsuke Tamazaki, 32, and Yohei Saito, 21, both Japanese
nationals, after officers allegedly found them with marijuana bricks at a
checkpoint in the mountain town of Bontoc on 19 March 2004.[1]The haul
weighed 1,360 kilograms, an amount for which Philippine drug law provided
capital punishment for possession of as little as 500 grams.[1]
The provincial police director said officers were investigating whether the
pair planned to transport the marijuana to Japan, and the Japanese Embassy
told Philippine police that Japanese customs experts planned to visit to
discuss smuggling of illegal drugs from the northern mountain regions to
Japan.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
PDEA operatives arrested a 31-year-old man during a buy-bust operation in Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya, on 11 November 2026. Authorities seized 630 grams of suspected dried marijuana leaves valued at P75,600.
Police arrested a 39-year-old man known as “Eco” during a dawn search in Barangay Poblacion, Kidapawan City, seizing over 2,000 grams of suspected marijuana. The haul was valued at P432,180 as police check claims he sold to students.
Quezon City police arrested two Pasay City men in an entrapment in Barangay Bagumbayan on the evening of 9 November 2026, recovering stolen Pokémon cards. A search of the 25-year-old known as Jun found about one gram of suspected dried marijuana, and he faces charges under both the anti-fencing and drugs laws.
PDEA Bicol arrested a 20-year-old Quezon City man at Matnog Port in Sorsogon on 8 November 2026 and seized a vape cartridge holding about one gram of suspected liquid marijuana. The agency valued the contents at P1,700 on the street and said the man would face charges under Republic Act 9165.
