OSAKA (Kyodo) A 25-year-old man is wanted by police for allegedly hiring two men to smuggle stimulants into Japan, investigative sources said Saturday.

A joint team from the Tokyo and Osaka police forces have obtained an arrest warrant for Takero Kondo, a student expelled from Waseda University in September who used to run a mah-jongg parlor the sources said.

The case may be part of a large operation involving a crime syndicate, they said.

Police believe Kondo has left Japan and is hiding in another country with help from the crime syndicate.

Kondo's name surfaced during an investigation last November into Hiroshi Osaka, a 26-year-old unemployed man who was arrested for possessing about 992 grams of stimulants from Malaysia in his luggage upon arrival at Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture, the police said.

Later, in February, Osaka's accomplice, Kyo Watanabe, a 21-year-old Toyo University student at the time, was arrested for allegedly posting a mobile phone Web ad seeking drug couriers. He allegedly arranged the plane tickets and accommodations for the Osaka's trip to Kuala Lumpur.

Watanabe reportedly told police he recruited 15 smugglers on the Web. Since last year, several Japanese have been arrested for drug possession in South Korea, and police believe they were among the 15 recruited by Watanabe.