Man admits cannabis dealing charges in Kochi lay-judge trial
Unemployed defendant Fui Ashida admitted charges of repeatedly selling cannabis and cocaine in Kochi City at the opening of his lay-judge trial on 2 November 2026. He is also accused of fraud for using another person's credit-card information at a Kochi hotel, with the next hearing set for 4 November.
🇯🇵 Kochi City, Kochi · Japan
- Charged
- 1
Fui Ashida, an unemployed man with no fixed address, is standing trial over
alleged drug dealing in Kochi City.[1] His lay-judge trial opened at the Kochi
District Court on 2 November 2026, and he admitted the charges at the first
hearing.[2]
Prosecutors accuse him of repeatedly selling cannabis, cocaine and other drugs
to a large number of customers in Kochi City from late March to September last
year.[2] They also accuse him of fraud for using another person’s credit-card
information obtained illicitly to receive sex-shop services at a hotel in Kochi
City.[2]
Questioned about his motive, Ashida said a local senior invited him while he was
looking for work, the offer turned out to involve a drug-dealing organization,
and having decided himself to do it he felt unable to refuse.[2] He said he
tried credit-card information obtained through a highly anonymous social-media
service and found that it worked.[2] The next hearing in the case is scheduled
for 4 November.[2]
Sources
- 「自分で『やる』と決めたので断れず…」大麻密売事件などの裁判員裁判 被告の男は起訴内容認める. KUTVテレビ高知, 2 November 2026. In Japanese.
- 「自分で『やる』と決めたので断れず…」大麻密売事件などの裁判員裁判 被告の男は起訴内容認める. dメニューニュース, 2 November 2026. In Japanese.
Open questions the AI reported
- No quantities, weights, prices, or customer numbers for the cannabis or cocaine were published.
- The alleged dealing period is given only as late March to September last year, understood as 2025, with no exact dates.
- No arrest date, seizure details, or verdict were reported; the trial was still under way with the next hearing set for 4 November.
- The cocaine and fraud allegations are noted for context and excluded from cannabis figures because no separable cannabis quantity exists.
- The page image has no caption or credit establishing that it shows this event, so no media entry is listed.
- Only the KUTV report and its mirror carrying the same account were available.
