TOKYO - A Singaporean man has been caught at the Kansai Airport in Osaka carrying 2.97kg of stimulant drugs with street value of 190 million yen (S$2.26 million) in his suitcase.

Police and the airport's customs office in the southern Japan prefecture said on Wednesday (Jan 17) the 37-year-old cleaning worker had arrived at Kansai Airport from India on Dec 21 last year, the Sankei Shimbun reported.

The report said the suspect partially denied the charges.

"I thought some illegal things were hidden, but I did not know they were stimulant drugs," he reportedly said.

It was believed that the suspect was told by a male acquaintance to deliver the suitcase to a minpaku, or an Airbnb-style private accommodation, in Osaka's Ikuno ward.