A driver in his 30s was found dead in a crushed minicar that had slammed into a utility pole along a street in the western Tokyo suburb of Tachikawa on Thursday, police said.
The police plan to investigate whether the driver had been under the influence of quasi-legal "dappo" drugs, because an unopened bag believed to contain a hallucinatory herb was found inside the vehicle following the Thursday accident.
On Tuesday, the 23-year-old driver of a dump truck had pieces of what was believed to be dappo drugs and a pipe in his pocket when he bumped his truck against a median strip on Metropolitan Expressway Route 5 in Itabashi Ward, Tokyo, the police said.
The resident of Chiba Prefecture said he had taken the drug in the past but did not take it before driving, the police said.