A Malaysian national and two of his daughters have been arrested over attempts to smuggle illegal drugs into Japan by hiding them in ceramic figures of characters from the Disney film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," police and customs officials said Tuesday.
The Japanese authorities have confiscated the stimulant drugs, weighing about 6 kilograms and estimated to have a street value of around ¥384 million ($3.64 million), that were concealed in dwarf and apple ceramics.
They believe Wong Siewmin, 53, his eldest daughter Chinatsu Ebisawa, 36, and his third daughter, 18, whose name is being withheld because she is a minor, were involved in transporting items as part of a smuggling scheme.
The ceramic dwarf figures arrived at Narita Airport in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, on Feb. 6. Customs officers found the drugs concealed in 10 of them two days later, and replaced them with other objects to pursue those involved in the case.
The three, all residents of Chiba Prefecture, received the ceramic figures stuffed with different materials on Saturday at Ebisawa's house in the city of Urayasu, the police said.
They then apprehended the family as they received the goods and later confiscated 10 apple-shaped ceramics containing the drugs at Wong's home in the city of Ichikawa, also in the prefecture.
Wong has admitted to the attempted drug smuggling, with the police quoting him as saying he was supposed to hand over the stimulants and receive ¥2.4 million in reward.
His daughters have denied the allegations, saying they had no knowledge of the figures' contents, the police added.
