Platform sneaker drug smuggler arrested (Video)

Mainichi informs us that platform sneakers might not be the best way for foreign tourists to smuggle drugs into Japan:

CHITOSE, Hokkaido — A Taiwanese man who tried to import 600 grams of illegal drugs hidden in the sole of one of his shoes has been arrested for violating the Stimulants Control Law, police said.

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Cai was one of about 40 people who arrived from Hong Kong on March 17 on a five-day tour of Hokkaido. A customs official reportedly became suspicious of Cai because he was wearing brand-new shoes with thick soles and his nationality was different from that of other members on the tour. When the officials inspected Cai’s belongings, the drugs were uncovered.

Since law enforcers have stepped up crackdowns on smugglers of large amounts of drugs into Japan, police suspect people have begun to import drugs in small quantities, hiding them in their hand luggage or attaching them to their bodies. At international airports on Japan’s main island of Honshu, the “shotgun method,” in which smugglers posing as tourists repeatedly enter and leave the country, is reportedly increasing.

Here’s a video report on the smuggler: