Tokyo Report: Haneda to Crack Down on Drug Smuggling

Tokyo, May 18 (Jiji Press)--Tokyo Customs is planning a sharp
increase in staff numbers to crack down on a possible increase in illegal
drug smuggling as the "internationalization" of Tokyo's Haneda airport moves
forward.
Haneda airport, officially Tokyo International Airport, is used
primarily for domestic flights but handles 14 charter international flights
daily. The number of international flights will rise to as many as 85 when
the airport begins operating its fourth runway in October next year.
Smugglers are increasingly avoiding Narita International Airport,
Japan's hub airport in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, because of its tight
security, and instead use Haneda or airports serving regional cities.
In May last year, a man was arrested at Haneda for trying to
smuggle 4.5 kilograms of stimulant drugs, with a street value of 270 million
yen, from Shanghai. It was the first seizure of illegal drugs at the airport
for nine years.
According to the Customs and Tariff Bureau of the Finance Ministry,
there were 293 seizures of illegal drugs by customs houses across Japan in
2008. The total included a record 110 cases involving stimulants.
Passenger planes were used in 72 of the cases, the largest number,
with airports in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, western Japan, and other
regional cities involved for the first time, reflecting increases in
international flight landings at them due to an easing of aviation
regulations.
A large number of the smuggling attempts were from China, some of
them via South Korea. As Haneda will be used for regular flights between
Tokyo and cities in China and South Korea after the opening of its fourth
runway, concerns are growing about an increase in unlawful imports via the
airport.
Tokyo Customs had no resident inspectors at its office at Haneda
until last July, but now has some 50 there for baggage inspections around
the clock.
Although the office is equipped with X-ray and other machines,
Kazunori Sato, a 20-year veteran, stresses that the ability of inspectors is
the "backup of last resort".
Tokyo Customs will expand its workforce by about 80 in fiscal 2009
and implement another steep staff increase in fiscal 2010.
The customs office is creating a system that can meet the
"internationalization" of Haneda airport, says Kenichiro Saito, head of the
public relations section.