Because stupid prank videos aren’t just an American thing.

A man in Fukui Prefecture who intentionally dropped a bag of white powder supposed to look like illegal drugs and his wife who filmed the incident as part of a poorly thought out YouTube prank video have been arrested for alleged obstruction of police duties.

According to police, at around 4 p.m. on August 26. Daiji Nishisaka, a 31-year-old resident of Echizen City and self-proclaimed advertising agent, dropped a plastic bag containing sugar near a police box located in the vicinity of JR Fukui Station in Fuku City. After dropping the bag, he was approached and questioned by police officers. However, during this questioning, Nishisaka suddenly picked up the bag and in an attempt to make police think that the bag contained an illegal substance, began to run away from the police officers. Police immediately gave chase and caught him in a parking lot located some 200 meters away.

The incident caused a significant commotion and even resulted in police calling for back up. However, Nishisaka ended up being allowed to return home after it was discovered that the bag only contained sugar and not any illegal stimulants (kakuseizai).

A video showing the incident was uploaded to the YouTube channel of Nishisaka and his wife, Mina Nishisaka (28) on August 30. The video managed to get over 1.3 million views and plenty of negative comments.

It appears that the video is what led police to realize that the incident was not an accident but rather a willful and malicious attempt to deceive police.

Nishisaka and his wife have been arrested under suspicion obstruction of police duties via fraudulent means. They have both admitted to the allegations.

Thankfully, there are currently no reports indicating that Nishisaka said at any point, “It was just a prank, bro.”

Although the original video appears to have been taken down, here is a re-post of the original video. In the second half of the video you can see Nishisaka as he is questioned by police and then chased after running away.

Source: ANN News, Mainichin Shinbun, NHK

Image: 【逮捕された動画】警官に覚醒剤ドッキリ (YouTube)