Vietnamese man arrested after 7.5 kg of cannabis seized at Saitama drugs base
Hyogo prefectural police arrested a Vietnamese man suspected of mailing ketamine and MDMA to a customer in Amagasaki, in a group that posted drugs nationwide in Letter Pack envelopes. A July raid on the group's base in Honjo, Saitama, seized about 7.5 kg of cannabis among other drugs the police valued at more than 290 million yen.
Hyogo prefectural police re-arrested a Vietnamese man of no fixed address and no occupation, reported
as 31 and as 32 years old, on 9 November 2026 on suspicion of violating the Narcotics and
Psychotropics Control Act.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]Police suspect he sent ketamine and MDMA for profit to
a man living in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, in late April 2026, from Gunma Prefecture or nearby[1][8][9][10][6]; the warrant gives the period as April to May[11], and one account says the drugs were
handed over for about 120,000 yen.[12]He had already been indicted on offences including breaches of
the Immigration Control Act[11], after his arrest in July 2026 for allegedly possessing cannabis plants
at a house in Honjo.[10]He told investigators he would keep silent.[1][8][9][7]
The group
According to police, the group put drugs in Letter Pack envelopes, a flat-rate Japan Post mailer, and
sent them nationwide from Hokkaido to Okinawa, and also sold wholesale to dealers by hand.[1][8][5][7]It had seven or eight members and moved between bases in Saitama, Gunma and other
prefectures; police suspect the man was a courier working on the leader’s orders, and say about
100,000 yen was paid into his bank account from a Vietnamese bank once a week.[1][8][10]
The case began with an August 2025 robbery and assault in Kasai city: one of four Vietnamese
nationals arrested showed a drug reaction, and tracing his supplier led police to the Honjo house.[13]The investigation is run by the international investigation division of Hyogo police with Kasai
police station.[13]
The Honjo seizure
In July 2026 police entered the group’s base, a house in Honjo, Saitama Prefecture, and seized a large
quantity of drugs.[1][8][14][15]It included about 2 kg of stimulants worth about 104 million yen at
street prices and about 7.5 kg of cannabis worth about 37 million yen, with ketamine, cocaine and MDMA
valued together at about 150 million yen.[1][8][11][9][6]Police valued the whole haul at more than 290
million yen and displayed it to reporters at Kasai police station[1][16][2][11]; MBS put the value of the
July seizure at about 150 million yen.[3]Police are investigating the rest of the group.[1][2][11]
Photos and video
Photograph captioned "Seized drugs etc. (Kasai police station, Hyogo)", showing the drugs Hyogo prefectural police displayed to reporters after the Honjo, Saitama seizure. Photo: Kansai Television / Hyogo prefectural policePhoto details
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Source: Kansai Television (Kantele NEWS), via dmenu NewsCannabis and stimulants seized by Hyogo prefectural police, displayed at Kasai police station on the afternoon of 9 November 2026. Photo: 神戸新聞NEXTPhoto details
The page gives the man's age as 31 in the lead and 32 in the third paragraph; both are reported.
No exact date is given for the arrest or for the July 2026 raid in Honjo; July 2026 is used as the incident date and 9 November 2026 is the date of publication.
No number of suspects is stated beyond the one arrested man; police describe him as one member of a group but no other arrests are reported.
The site of the seizure is a base in Honjo, Saitama, but the display to reporters was photographed at Kasai police station in Hyogo; the exact base address is not given.
No court stage, charge sheet or prosecutor's decision is reported; the case is at the investigation stage after arrest.
The cannabis is described only as roughly 7.5 kg, with no product breakdown (flower, resin or oil) and no laboratory confirmation reported.
The street value of the cannabis is given as about 37 million yen, inside a total police valuation of more than 290 million yen that also includes stimulants, ketamine, cocaine and MDMA.
The FNN page and the dmenu/Kansai Television page carry the same text from the same broadcaster, so they are not independent accounts of the event.
The lead photograph on the FNN page carries no separate caption describing what it shows.
Kyodo gives no exact day for the July raid and calls the site a house (住宅); 1 July remains the incident date standing in for the month.
Kyodo names the drugs found as stimulants, dried cannabis and others but gives no total weight for the non-cannabis drugs.
The au Web Portal page shows only the opening of the Kyodo bulletin before linking out, so its wording beyond the first line was checked against the fuller 47NEWS text of the same Kyodo dispatch.
MBS gives the delivery period as April to May 2026 and the payment as about 120,000 yen, while Sun Television says the profitable delivery happened in April 2026; the accounts differ on the timing.
No cannabis was involved in the re-arrest charge itself, which concerns ketamine and MDMA only; the cannabis figures come from the earlier July 2026 Saitama raid already recorded in the report.
No exact re-arrest date is given; the reports of 9 November 2026 give only the month-period of the alleged deliveries.
Kobe Shimbun gives the delivery window as late April to early May, Sun Television as April alone, and MBS as April to May.
The NHK page's text stops after its opening paragraph, so no further figures, charges or court stage can be read from it.
NHK describes the Saitama site as a house from which cannabis, stimulants and other drugs were seized in large quantities but gives no weight, date or number of arrests beyond the two Vietnamese suspects.
The ABC report gives no weight for the cannabis, no date or place for the base, and no figure for the number of suspects beyond the one man re-arrested.
San-television (Sun TV) and Kobe Shimbun give the drug delivery as April 2026 or late April to early May, while MBS gives April to May; the report keeps its existing late April date.
Kobe Shimbun says the man was indicted on stimulants and narcotics charges, which the report already records in different wording; no court decision is reported.
The submitted broadcast still carries an older headline with a 150 million yen figure while another copy of the same report is headed 290 million yen; the report keeps both police valuations already recorded.
Police say four Vietnamese nationals were arrested over the 2025 Kasai robbery and assault, but that case is not part of this report and no report on it was found.
Police say the group moved between bases in Saitama and Gunma and give no further address for the Honjo house.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in MBSニュース: Police said they identified the man's involvement from analysis of smartphones.
A 43-year-old Turkish man was arrested in Gifu on suspicion of using cannabis after a fire in his apartment building sent 12 residents to hospital with minor injuries. Police found cannabis components in his urine during the fire investigation and are examining any link between the drug use and the blaze.
A 28-year-old company employee from Kurashiki was arrested on 11 November 2026 for allegedly using cannabis between May and August 2026. A roadside questioning on 31 August and a urine test led to the arrest, which the man admitted.
Osaka police arrested two men from Ikuno Ward over the alleged sale of an item as cannabis, including a man who once fought in the BreakingDown event. A plant fragment found in one suspect's car tested as cannabis, and seized phones pointed to deals with several people.
Police in Sasebo rearrested a 24-year-old restaurant worker on 10 November 2026 for allegedly possessing about 0.3 g of cannabis liquid at home. The man, on a suspended sentence for cocaine use, admitted the liquid was his.
