<figure id="attachment_457821" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-457821" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="eb2bde64"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/02/868dceea2a963d76871c25c2fa68ac04.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-457821" class="wp-caption-text">On January 20, a Thai national was arrested at Kansai Airport for attempting to import approximately 1,000 cartridges (500 g). This was the first arrest in Osaka.</figcaption></figure>
<h3> The &#8220;Hope of Hiroshima&#8221; was arrested!</h3>
<p> Illegal drugs, unheard of six months ago, are spreading like crazy.</p>
<p> Etomidate&#8221; &#8211; an unapproved pharmaceutical ingredient in Japan. It is a drug that can be ingested like an electronic cigarette, either by burning it, inhaling it, or setting it in an atomizer (a device that heats and atomizes the substance) on the market. The drug is commonly referred to as &#8220;zombie tobacco&#8221; because of the intoxicating high that follows the use of the drug for only a minute or two, while at the same time the user&#8217;s limbs become numb and it becomes difficult to walk, making them dizzy like a zombie. In Japan, it has been a designated drug since last May.</p>
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
<p> The name was made famous by the arrest of a baseball hopeful: on January 27, Hiroshima Prefectural Police arrested Ryutaro Hatsuki, 25, an infielder for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, on suspicion of violating the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Act. The baseball world was in an uproar. Tatsuo Shinozuka, a visiting professor at Yokohama College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and an expert on drug crimes, is concerned about the effects of the drug on the human body.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> He said, &#8220;When ingested, the activity of the central nervous system is severely inhibited. Even small doses make it difficult to move one&#8217;s arms and legs as desired. Dependence on the drug is also quite strong, and large doses can cause respiratory arrest and death. It is similar to other addictive drugs in that it leaves a strong &#8220;history&#8221; in the brain, so even if you stop using it once, there is a high risk that you will use it again.</span></p>
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
<p> The most serious cases are in Okinawa. By the end of November last year, 10 people had been arrested, nine of them in their teens or 20s; a 14-year-old junior high school student was arrested in December; another junior high school student was arrested on January 30, and it is difficult to ascertain how widespread the problem has become.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The drug is sold under names such as &#8220;laughing anesthesia&#8221; to produce a sense of euphoria, and many young people become addicted to it without realizing it. The price is cheaper than marijuana or methamphetamine, with a 1 g cartridge costing less than 10,000 yen. It seems that they are passing it around among their friends,&#8221; said a reporter for a local newspaper.</span></p>
<figure id="attachment_457822" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-457822" style="width: 1961px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="89e40240"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/02/9db8760b4601717b5fe82216269ecdcc.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-457822" class="wp-caption-text"> (A reporter for a local newspaper) &#8220;The drug can be easily ingested by inserting a cartridge into a container. The fact that syringes are not used is another factor that makes it easy for young people to get their hands on it.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_457823" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-457823" style="width: 2407px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="19c90038"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/02/bf189aa088bccd37f7bd056b98758cb3.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-457823" class="wp-caption-text"> The color is transparent. Beginners are first given zombie cigarettes with a low concentration, and as they become accustomed to them, the concentration is increased to make them dependent on the cigarettes.</figcaption></figure>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Contact with a Chinese wholesale group executive"></div>
<h3>Japan is poor, so it&#8217;s easy.&#8221;</h3>
<p> In late November last year, the first arrest was made in Tokyo. The following month, in mid-December, the Metropolitan Police Department arrested Kenji Manaka, then 59, a suspect of unknown profession, for attempting to import approximately 2 kg of zombie tobacco, the largest amount seized in Japan. The police are becoming increasingly alarmed, saying, &#8220;This is rapidly spreading to the Tokyo area.</p>
<p> This time, the FRIDAY team succeeded in contacting an executive member of a Chinese wholesale group under the condition of exchanging letters. The group is a huge organization with about 100 members and is based in Kabukicho, wholesaling etomidates to the downtown area.</p>
<p> They had their eyes on Japan even before the COVID-19 crisis. A source close to the organization reveals the inside story.</p>
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> They have been wholesaling for nearly 10 years, but it wasn&#8217;t until after the Corona disaster that they began to make serious moves. Okinawa is the only place where most of them are, because they enter via sea from China and Hong Kong, but Tokyo, of course, and most major cities are infested with them. After Okinawa, Hokkaido actually has the second largest number. I think we&#8217;re about to see some arrests there, too.&#8221;</span></p>
<p> He cited the large profit margins as a reason for dealing in zombie cigarettes.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> You don&#8217;t need a huge field like marijuana,&#8221; he said. You can make it in a private house if you have a set of facilities. In the Uyghur Autonomous Region, where labor costs are low, the cost is about 10,000 yen per kilogram. Even in expensive areas, 100,000 yen per kilogram can be produced. That is less than 1/100th of methamphetamine. Since it can be sold for 10,000 yen per kilogram, it is a very lucrative business.</span></p>
<p> When asked if he was aware that it is a dangerous drug with a risk of death, he replied, without a hint of apology, &#8220;We give a diluted concentration to those who are experiencing it for the first time. If he dies, we get caught, right? He replied, &#8220;If he dies, we&#8217;ll get caught, won&#8217;t we?</p>
<p> They explained why they were targeting Japan as a sales destination: &#8220;Most of our etomidate is sold in China.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> One reason is geographic accessibility, since the majority of etomidate is made in China. But the most important reason is that people are in a recession and don&#8217;t have money. If you offer them a good deal, they will easily jump on it, and if they get in trouble, they can talk themselves out of it with their money. It is easy to do anything. The Japanese are sitting ducks.</span></p>
<p> The executive revealed his fearsome ambition.</p>
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Eventually, we are thinking of exporting our products overseas, using Japan as a transit point. There are countries where customs censorship is strict when it comes to goods from China, but there are areas where customs censorship is lax for goods originating in Japan. We will continue to sell our products in Japan to establish a base.</span></p>
<p> When he finished answering the last question, the executive told the intermediary who handled the delivery of the letter, &#8220;You shouldn&#8217;t mess with that one. No one in our group is doing it,&#8221; he said, laughing.</p>
<p> The &#8220;etmidate&#8221; takes advantage of poverty and expands explosively. We must face the reality that young people are being preyed upon for the profit of criminal organizations and take immediate countermeasures.</p>
<p> From the February 20/27, 2026 issue of FRIDAY</p>
<figure id="attachment_457824" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-457824" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="63788019"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/02/ef5e209f77dd96b7786af74d38dc1152.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-457824" class="wp-caption-text"> The suspect, Hazama Hazama, attempted to import 2 kg of zombie cigarettes. The container was disguised with the words &#8220;body lotion.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_457825" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-457825" style="width: 1754px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="ee15ebda"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/02/76b6eee3e62c27e821097a00fe2638cf-1.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-457825" class="wp-caption-text"> Drug contamination has also reached the professional baseball world. Hazuki was immediately and indefinitely suspended by the team.</figcaption></figure>


 Shinji Hasuo (4th photo) Kyodo News (1st, 3rd, 5th photos)

 Takayuki Urushihara

 In the past six months, an illegal drug called zombie cigarettes has been spreading like crazy. This magazine succeeded in exchanging letters with executives of zombie tobacco wholesalers. What do they have to say? We bring you the details.

Japanese are sitting ducks,” Chinese wholesaler tells of the unfathomable darkness of “zombie cigarettes” (etomidate).

Access Ranking