Tokyo cops arrest novelist Novala Takemoto for ‘dangerous drugs’

TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police arrested on Thursday arrested popular novelist Novala Takemoto on charges of possession of so-called “dangerous drugs,” reports the Sankei Shimbun (April 23).

In early March, officers found Takemoto, 47, to have two grams of contraband banned under the Narcotics Control Law in his possession on a street in the Ueno district.

Dangerous drugs are sold in packets as a combination of chemicals whose structures are often able to exploit legal loopholes and organic material.

Takemoto, whose real first name is Toshiaki, had been stopped for questioning after he appeared to be behaving erratically. He has reportedly denied the allegations. “I didn’t know the herb I had contained narcotic drugs,” the suspect is quoted by police.

Takemoto made his debut as a novelist in 2000. The 2004 film “Kamikaze Girls” is based on the Takemoto novel “Shimotsuma Story — Yankee Girl & Lolita Girl” released two years before.