Japanese former politician, 76, gets life for smuggling 3.3kg of methamphetamine into China

Lawyer for Takuma Sakuragi describes court’s ruling as ‘unjust and unfair’ as septuagenarian hears his fate six years after being arrested

Former lawmaker’s two West African accomplices given suspended death sentence, life imprisonment

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Takuma Sakuragi, a 76-year-old Japanese former assemblyman, has been sentenced to life in prison in China for drug smuggling. Photo: Weibo

Sarah Zhengin BeijingandMimi Lauin Hong Kong

Published: 5:46pm, 8 Nov 2019Updated: 10:32pm, 8 Nov 2019

More than six years after being caught trying to smuggle drugs into China, a 76-year-old Japanese former politician has been sentenced to life imprisonment.

Takuma Sakuragi, a former city assemblyman from Japan’s Aichi prefecture, was detained at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in southern China’s Guangdong province in October 2013 in possession of 3.3kg (7.3lbs) of methamphetamine.

Sakuragi’s two accomplices, both from West Africa, were also found guilty by the Guangzhou First Intermediate People’s Court, the Southern Metropolis News reported on Friday.

Aly Yattabare from Mali was sentenced to the death suspended for two years, while Mohamed Soumah from Guinea was given a life sentence, the report said.

The three men were first tried in Guangzhou in August 2014. Photo: Weibo

The three men were first tried in Guangzhou in August 2014, and all pleaded not guilty. However, the court failed to reach a verdict and the case dragged on due to the absence of suitable translators, the report said.

Sakuragi’s lawyer, Chen Weixiong, described the sentencing as “unjust and unfair”.