Naoko Kikuchi, a former Aum Shinrikyo cult member who had been wanted for years for alleged involvement in the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin gas attack, was arrested Sunday in a city southwest of Tokyo, police said.

The arrest, and the possibility of fresh revelations about the cult's crimes, could affect the timing of the executions of Aum founder Shoko Asahara and his 12 followers now on death row for their involvement in the release of the lethal gas in five subway trains during the morning rush hour in downtown Tokyo that killed 13 people.

Kikuchi, 40, has admitted to her involvement in production of the gas though she says she did not know what it was, according to the police. Her arrest came five months after Makoto Hirata, another former Aum member turned himself in to police after being on the run for more than 16 years.