CHINESE COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCES FOR TWO JAPANESE OVER DRUGS

a Chinese court upheld the death sentences of two Japanese men convicted of attempting to smuggle drugs from China to Japan in 2003, an official at the Japanese Consulate General in Shenyang said. The Higher People's Court in China's northeastern Liaoning Province dismissed appeals filed by Teruo Takeda, 64, and Hironori Ukai, 46. Takeda is believed to have been the head of a drug smuggling operation that led to the arrest of 17 Japanese citizens throughout China since 2003. According to the indictment, Takeda bought 5 kilograms of stimulant drugs in Dalian in June 2003, hiring five smugglers in Dalian and Shenyang to bring them to Japan. One of the smugglers, Ukai, was arrested at Dalian airport in July 2003 boarding a flight to Osaka with 1.5 kg of stimulant drugs.