CHINA: THREE JAPANESE EXECUTED FOR DRUG SMUGGLING

the Chinese Supreme People's Court announced that Japanese nationals Teruo Takeda, 67, Hironori Ukai, 48, and Katsuo Mori, 67, were executed in the northeastern province of Liaoning for drug trafficking.
Takeda bought about five kg of methamphetamine in June 2003 in China and instructed the other Japanese to take the drugs out of the country.
Takeda was arrested in June 2004 for trading more than 2.9 kg of stimulant drugs. Ukai was arrested at an airport in Dalian in September 2003 attempting to pass a security check with 1.5 kg of drugs hidden under clothes. Mori was arrested attempting to board a plane from Shenyang to Japan with 1.25 kg of drugs in July 2003.