In a demonstration of the truly global spread of organized crime, Mexican officials arrested a group of drug traffickers that ran an elaborate smuggling operation from the streets of Mexico City to Tokyo, Japan.
According to a news release issued by the Ministry of Public Security, the arrest was the result of an investigation that revealed that Phanor Eriko Kuratomi, 51, used women to transport drugs inside their bodies. The Japanese citizen lived and operated in Guadalajara, Jalisco, but claims he recruited women from Mexico City to work for him. Upon arriving at Narita International Airport in Tokyo, the women handed their deliveries to an individual known as “Tohishi,” who would then take them to an undisclosed location for distribution.
Eriko Kuratomi was arrested last week in the company of Juan Ignacio Angeles Reyes, his accomplice, and two of the women who had transported drugs. Officials also secured one and a half kilos of cocaine –all in cylindrical, 500 gram packages — along with a number of plane tickets to Tokyo.