Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) has arrested four people aged between 16 and 22 for allegedly selling over-the-counter (OTC) cough medicines to multiple people without permission.
The arrests came amid a rise in the number of cases in Japan of young people overdosing on OTC drugs, such as cold pills and cough medicines.
In particular, an area called Toyoko in the Kabukicho entertainment district in the Japanese capital's Shinjuku Ward is seeing a surge in minors taken to the hospital after overdosing on OTC drugs. The Toyoko area, located next to Toho Cinemas' cinema complex in Kabukicho, has become a gathering spot for runaways and other youth with nowhere else to go, with some of them falling victim to crimes.