Japanese authorities have seized the country's largest-ever cache of illegal stimulant drugs from a suspicious ship at sea.
Tokyo police officials say they found nearly 1,000 kilograms of drugs on Monday night on a vessel off the coast of Shizuoka Prefecture, eastern-central Japan.
The authorities say the drugs have a street value of about 555 million dollars.
They arrested seven Chinese nationals on the scene for possessing drugs for the purpose of profit. Authorities think the suspects may be linked to international drug smuggling groups and Japanese crime syndicates.
The investigators say the drugs were probably being smuggled from Hong Kong to Japan, where street prices are relatively high.
Tokyo police say the suspects have denied the allegations.
NHK
