Japanese men imprisoned for trafficking golden statues
Two Japanese citizens, Iwamura Masakazu and Kitada Takayoshi, have been given ten and eight-year jail terms, respectively, for smuggling seven golden statues under clause 153, article 4, point a of the Criminal Code.
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The People’s Court of Hanoi announced the penalties at the first instance hearing on April 12.
According to the indictment, Iwamura Masakazu, 46, former director of the Japanese-based RG Innovation Company, a broker in bringing Vietnamese labourers to Japan, colluded with Kitada Takayoshi, 34, to transport seven golden statues worth over VND6.7 billion (about US$295,000) with a total weight of 6,794 grammes from Vietnam to Japan without customs declarations.
Iwamura Masakazu promised to give Kitada Takayoshi 80,000 JPY (nearly US$711) if he could bring the statues to Japan successfully.
On August 3, 2016, Kitada Takayoshi was seized by customs officers at the Noi Bai International Airport when he was trying to leave Vietnam with the silver-plated statues hidden on his luggage.
