In September, a 35-year-old Kawasaki mobster was sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison for selling 269,000 yen worth of stimulants to seven people between December 2001 and February 2002.
Instead of the case being just a typical drug offense receiving little attention, it drew wide play in the media because it was the first time police bugged a suspect's phone to gather information and evidence in line with a contentious wiretapping law that took effect in August 2000 -- a law that some regard as allowing authorities for the first time to pre-empt crime.
Wiretapping under the law has since been carried out only one other time, and also in connection with a drug offense. In that case, Kanagawa Prefectural Police monitored illegal drug transactions in September 2002.