Fugitive Suspect Arrested in ¥268 Million Meth Smuggling Case

After two years on the run

A police transport vehicle came out of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police’s Wangan Police Station. Normally, the suspect would be seated in the middle of the back seat, but he could not be seen. This was because he kept bending his body forward throughout, seemingly trying to prevent the press waiting outside from photographing him.

On April 13, Ryo Hida (30), a member of the Sumiyoshi-kai Kohei Family, was arrested on suspicion of violating the Stimulants Control Act (import for profit) for importing stimulants, and was sent to prosecutors on the 15th.

“Toida is suspected of smuggling about 5 kilograms of stimulants from the United States in 2024 for distribution purposes, with a street value of approximately 268 million yen. He hid the stimulants inside hollowed-out cylindrical metal parts originally used as components for machinery and equipment, importing them as metal parts.

The international mail was later delivered within Tokyo, but after the person who received it was arrested, Toida—who was believed to be the mastermind—came to light. He had been on the run for two years since then, but was finally arrested,” said a national newspaper social affairs reporter.

The Kohei Family is believed to have close ties with so-called “tokuryu” (anonymous, fluid criminal groups) involved in special fraud and so-called dark part-time job robberies. In January this year, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police established a special task force under the command of the Criminal Affairs Bureau Director. On April 1, the Deputy Superintendent General took command of the investigation headquarters. This shows how seriously the Metropolitan Police are treating the case, and indeed, news reports of incidents likely involving the Kohei Family increased sharply around this time.

On March 31, five people including a leader of a Kohei Family-affiliated group were arrested on suspicion of confinement and robbery causing injury. On April 2, another member of the Kohei Family was arrested on suspicion of extortion. And then came the current case of stimulant importation.

The Metropolitan Police believe the Kohei Family has been systematically importing stimulants and serving as a domestic supply source, but what is the reality of the situation—?

We spoke with Yukio Ishihara, a journalist covering the underworld.

Drug dealers who are practically amateurs

“Over the past 10 years or so, transactions between drug dealers and users have mainly taken place on social media. First, dealers promote themselves on X. When users find them and make contact, they are directed to notorious apps like Telegram or Signal, which are often used for dark part-time jobs, where detailed negotiations take place. After that, the transaction is completed either through hand-to-hand exchange or via regular postal services. It is the tokuryu who directly handle these exchanges.

For example, zombie tobacco that first spread in Okinawa is often abused by young people. These young people don’t have money. Tokuryu bring them in as so-called part-time workers and use them as low-level street dealers.

In other words, a significant number of tokuryu drug dealers are amateurs, and even if they are arrested, they can be used as disposable scapegoats. There are many organized crime groups that rely on stimulants as a funding source, but the Kohei Family in particular is skilled at handling tokuryu. So, just like with dark part-time job crimes, exploitative scout groups, and problematic host club issues, there is a possibility that the Kohei Family is also using tokuryu in illegal drug distribution,” said Ishihara.

What exactly is the police focusing on in the Kohei Family’s drug-related cases? Ishihara continues:

“It is widely known that one of the major wholesale hubs for stimulants is yakuza organizations in Takasaki and Maebashi in Gunma Prefecture. The reason is that stimulants distributed in Japan used to enter in large quantities via the North Korean passenger-cargo ship Mangyongbong-92 through Niigata Port.

Yakuza groups in Gunma would handle this supply and then wholesale it to organizations in Tokyo and other regions, which would further distribute it to smaller groups. At each stage, profits would be reduced.

In contrast, the Kohei Family may be directly importing drugs themselves and then having tokuryu sell them. If they handle everything from smuggling to retail themselves, the profit margin would be far higher than other groups. Although this involves taking greater risks by directly engaging in smuggling, it generates enormous profits, allowing the organization to rapidly expand.

However, if the drug distribution pyramid consists only of the Kohei Family and its affiliated tokuryu, it also becomes easier for the police to narrow down targets and conduct more effective investigations.

This arrest is precisely an example of that, and in drug cases as well, we can interpret it as a strong message from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police that they will not tolerate the Kohei Family’s close ties with tokuryu. It can be said that police investigations aiming to dismantle both tokuryu groups and the Kohei Family simultaneously have taken a step forward.”

In response to questioning, Hida is said to have stated: “I will remain silent. I will also remain silent about the reason for remaining silent.”