Police and customs officials said Tuesday they have arrested three Chinese students at vocational schools in the Tokyo area on suspicion of attempting to import 13,000 fake coupons for Kirin beer.
Some 10,000 fake coupons were found at the homes of the three students, including Yang Dai, 23, a resident of Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture, according to the officials.
The police and customs officials said they suspect the counterfeit coupons were produced in China. Some have already been circulated in Japan.
The counterfeits, with a face value of 734 yen each, are printed on thinner paper than genuine coupons and do not have a Kirin watermark, they said.
According to the police and customs, three boxes containing the 13,000 coupons were sent to the homes of the three men on April 26 and May 1 from a post office in Dalian, northeastern China.
Customs officers discovered the forged coupons at the Tokyo International Post Office.
According to the police, the three students denied arranging for the forged coupons to be sent, saying they were merely asked by people in China to receive them in Japan.