US Marine gets 2 years in Japan over mailed cannabis
The Naha District Court sentenced US Marine Cpl. Nicholas Garner on 18 February 2022 to two years in prison with hard labour and a $4,344 fine for attempting to smuggle cannabis into Japan. Customs had intercepted cannabis liquid and flower mailed to Camp Foster in June 2021.
US Marine Cpl. Nicholas Garner pleaded guilty to violating Japan’s cannabis control and customs laws after cannabis products mailed to him were intercepted.[1][2]A half gallon of cannabis liquid and nearly a quarter pound of cannabis flower arrived in the mail at Camp Foster, Okinawa, on 7 June 2021.[1]He had a small amount of cannabis and liquid on him when arrested.[1]
The Naha District Court sentenced him on 18 February 2022 to two years in prison with hard labour and fined him $4,344.[1][2]Two other Marines faced separate proceedings over a similar mailed package intercepted in April 2021.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Prison
2 years
Fine
USD 4,344
Agency type
Customs, Court
Cannabis
Oil or extract; Herbal cannabis
Activity
Smuggling
Setting
Mail or parcel
Charge
violating Japan's Cannabis Control and Customs laws
Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force dismissed a 19-year-old private second class at the Kaita garrison in Hiroshima Prefecture on 6 November 2026 for using cannabis and other drugs at a friend's home in Hiroshima City in August. He had been arrested in September with two friends on suspicion of cannabis use.
The Kochi District Court sentenced Fui Ashida to five years in prison and a 1 million yen fine for repeatedly selling cannabis and cocaine in Kochi and for credit-card fraud. Presiding judge Yoshitake Tanaka called the offences malicious, citing sales to 17 customers at least 33 times.
The Yamaguchi District Court sentenced a 31-year-old man to three years in prison and a 500,000-yen fine for confining two men in a Shimonoseki flat in December 2024 and, in October 2025, holding about 172 grams of cannabis for profit and using it. The court called the confinement malicious and said the cannabis carried a high risk of spreading the harm of illegal drugs.
A 21-year-old convicted of defrauding an elderly person of 1.5 million yen and possessing cannabis in Okayama Prefecture was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison and a 300,000-yen fine. The Hiroshima High Court's Okayama branch vacated the May verdict on 28 October 2026 after prosecutors appealed its failure to set a workhouse detention term for the fine.
