The Yomiuri Shimbun's head office in Tokyo has received a box containing a handgun, bullets and narcotics, leading police to launch a criminal investigation, the major newspaper publisher said Thursday.
Delivered May 15 through a courier service, the wooden box also contained a message in Chinese saying, "A former senior member of a gang group is illegally selling drugs," the publisher said.
Police said they are looking for the box's sender and opening investigations based on suspected violations of the firearms control law and the stimulants control law.
The box contained a .38-caliber revolver and 13 bullets, placed under half a melon and a brown envelope. Police are trying to authenticate the gun, which is believed genuine, although its brand name was scratched off.
Two plastic bags containing white powder were taped to the underside of the box's lid. Police determined it consisted of approximately 1 gram of amphetamines and some 2 grams of the anesthetic drug Ketamine.
Also in the box were passports belonging to two Chinese men, the police said.
The envelope contained two A4-size pieces of paper bearing messages written in Chinese with a word processor. The messages allege that the former senior gang member stole drugs worth several billion yen from a crime group in Hong Kong two or three years ago and is selling them in Japan.