Japan says no fentanyl seized at border in six years after US smuggling report

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TOKYO (Reuters) -No fentanyl had been seized at Japan’s borders in the six years through 2024, Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said on Friday, after a media report alleged a Chinese group in Japan smuggled chemicals into the United States to make the synthetic drug.

“Japan will continue to take all necessary steps to prevent the smuggling of illegal drugs,” Kato said at a regular briefing when asked about the allegations reported by the Nikkei Business daily. Kato did not say whether fentanyl he referred to included precursor chemicals as well as the finished drug.

The media report, which identified a company operating in Nagoya, central Japan until at least July 2024, comes as Japan tries to negotiate a trade deal with the U.S. in a bid to roll back or eliminate a 25% tariff on Japanese automobile imports.

U.S. President Donald Trump in March slapped additional tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico and China after he accused those three countries of facilitating the flow of fentanyl into the U.S., where it has caused nearly 450,000 overdose deaths,

The allegation that fentanyl precursor chemicals had been shipped from Japan will not affect Japan’s ongoing trade talks, Japan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Takeshi Iwaya said.

“Japan intends to continue actively working toward the eradication of illegal drugs, including fentanyl, through close coordination with the United States and other relevant countries,” he said at a separate press briefing.

(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Stephen Coates and Michael Perry)