FILE PHOTO: Japan's Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato speaks during an interview with Reuters at the Finance Ministry in Tokyo, Japan April 17, 2025. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo
TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said on Friday there have been no recorded cases of synthetic drug fentanyl being seized by the customs department, neither as illegal exports nor illegal imports, in six years through 2024.
Kato made the comments at a regular news conference when asked about a Nikkei business daily report this week that a Chinese organisation allegedly used a base in Japan to smuggle chemicals to make fentanyl into the U.S.
"Japan will continue to take all necessary steps to prevent the smuggling of illegal drugs," Kato said.
A key figure in the group registered a company in the city of Nagoya and until at least July 2024 issued instructions from Japan on the delivery of the dangerous opioid and on the management of funds, the Nikkei reported.
(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Stephen Coates)
