{"id":8703,"date":"2025-10-13T06:14:50","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T06:14:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/couple-arrested-for-allegedly-smuggling-45-tons-of-vietnamese-rice-into-japan-to-sell-as-local-variety\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T06:14:50","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T06:14:50","slug":"couple-arrested-for-allegedly-smuggling-45-tons-of-vietnamese-rice-into-japan-to-sell-as-local-variety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/couple-arrested-for-allegedly-smuggling-45-tons-of-vietnamese-rice-into-japan-to-sell-as-local-variety\/","title":{"rendered":"Couple arrested for allegedly smuggling 45 tons of Vietnamese rice into Japan to sell as local variety"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<h2>Vietnamese-Japanese couple arrested on suspicion of smuggling 45 tons of Vietnamese rice into Japan<\/h2>\n<p>A Vietnamese woman and her Japanese husband have been arrested in Osaka, Japan, for allegedly smuggling 45 tons of rice from Vietnam.<\/p>\n<p>According to Japan&rsquo;s The Asahi Shimbun, the scheme reportedly aimed to bypass customs inspections and sell the rice as a high-priced domestic variety.<\/p>\n<h3>Couple allegedly conspire to conceal rice<\/h3>\n<p>The suspects, 36-year-old Tran Thi Thu Huyen and her 47-year-old husband Tomoyuki Takeshige, were taken into custody on Monday (6 Oct), following investigations by Osaka prefectural police and customs authorities.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_662727\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><noscript><\/noscript>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-662727\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: The Mainichi<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Investigators allege the couple conspired to load the rice into shipping containers between mid- and late June.<\/p>\n<p>They reportedly falsely declared the containers as mung beans to avoid tariffs applied to Vietnamese rice, which was 341 yen (S$2.91) per kilogram.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_662725\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-662725\" class=\"size-full wp-image-662725 lazyload\" alt=\"couple smuggling rice japan\" width=\"340\" height=\"405\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/mustsharenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screenshot-2025-10-09-153745.png 340w, https:\/\/mustsharenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screenshot-2025-10-09-153745-126x150.png 126w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 340px) 100vw, 340px\" src=\"https:\/\/mustsharenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screenshot-2025-10-09-153745.png\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-662725\" class=\"size-full wp-image-662725\" src=\"https:\/\/mustsharenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screenshot-2025-10-09-153745.png\" alt=\"couple smuggling rice japan\" width=\"340\" height=\"405\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mustsharenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screenshot-2025-10-09-153745.png 340w, https:\/\/mustsharenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screenshot-2025-10-09-153745-126x150.png 126w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 340px) 100vw, 340px\"><\/noscript>\n<div class=\"internal-linking-related-contents\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/12-weeks-jail-for-school-it-support-technician-who-took-upskirt-videos-of-teachers\/\" class=\"template-1\"><span class=\"cta\">News :<\/span><span class=\"postTitle\">&lt;div&gt;12 weeks' jail for school IT support technician who took upskirt videos of teachers&lt;\/div&gt;<\/span><\/a><\/div><p id=\"caption-attachment-662725\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: The Mainichi<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>In contrast, mung beans are tarrif-free in Japan.<\/p>\n<h3>2,272 boxes of undeclared rice found by officials<\/h3>\n<p>On 25 June, customs officials discovered 2,272 boxes of undeclared rice hidden behind boxes of mung beans.<\/p>\n<p>The rice, believed to be a Japonica variety, had been imported without the necessary inspection certificates, reports NHK World Japan.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_662726\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-662726\" class=\"size-full wp-image-662726 lazyload\" alt=\"couple smuggling rice japan\" width=\"817\" height=\"542\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/mustsharenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screenshot-2025-10-09-153808.png 817w, https:\/\/mustsharenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screenshot-2025-10-09-153808-600x398.png 600w, https:\/\/mustsharenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screenshot-2025-10-09-153808-150x100.png 150w\" data-sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 817px) 100vw, 817px\" src=\"https:\/\/mustsharenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screenshot-2025-10-09-153808.png\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-662726\" class=\"size-full wp-image-662726\" src=\"https:\/\/mustsharenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screenshot-2025-10-09-153808.png\" alt=\"couple smuggling rice japan\" width=\"817\" height=\"542\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mustsharenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screenshot-2025-10-09-153808.png 817w, https:\/\/mustsharenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screenshot-2025-10-09-153808-600x398.png 600w, https:\/\/mustsharenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screenshot-2025-10-09-153808-150x100.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 817px) 100vw, 817px\"><\/noscript>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-662726\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Asahi Shimbun<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The company that imported the rice, Frechi LLC, was known to import and sell fruits and vegetables in Higashi-Osaka and was run by Huyen.<\/p>\n<div class=\"internal-linking-related-contents\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/migrant-acquitted-in-first-trial-over-us-border-military-zones\/\" class=\"template-1\"><span class=\"cta\">News :<\/span><span class=\"postTitle\">Migrant acquitted in first trial over US border military zones<\/span><\/a><\/div><p>Meanwhile, her husband was involved in selling Vietnamese food products.<\/p>\n<p>Police noted that shipments had been falsely declared as mung beans more than 20 times earlier this year.<\/p>\n<h3>Suspected of seeking profit from high prices of rice in Japan<\/h3>\n<p>Authorities suspect the couple sought to profit from rising domestic rice prices in Japan, which had surged to around 4,000 yen (S$33) per 5kg by Sept 2024.<\/p>\n<p>The alleged scheme would have allowed them to sell cheaper Vietnamese rice at higher prices.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1803\" data-end=\"2000\">Police have not disclosed whether the couple had confessed to the allegations. Investigators are still gathering evidence and examining records related to the shipments.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2002\" data-end=\"2262\">If convicted, the suspects could face charges under Japan&rsquo;s Customs Law and Plant Protection Law.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2002\" data-end=\"2262\">Authorities have emphasised that smuggling such large quantities of rice is taken seriously due to public health and economic concerns.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2002\" data-end=\"2262\"><strong>Also read: M&rsquo;sian man jailed for driving 5 passengers to S&rsquo;pore &amp; smuggling over S$42K of contraband cigarettes<br><\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"9lcMh9e5wU\" readability=\"0\">\n<p>M&rsquo;sian man jailed for driving 5 passengers to S&rsquo;pore &amp; smuggling over S$42K of contraband cigarettes<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><em>Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at&nbsp;news@mustsharenews.com.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Featured image adapted from The Asahi Shimbun.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><!-- CONTENT END 1 --><\/p><\/div>\n<p><sub>Couple arrested for allegedly smuggling 45 tons of Vietnamese rice into Japan to sell as local variety<\/sub><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Vietnamese-Japanese couple arrested on suspicion of smuggling 45 tons of Vietnamese rice into Japan A Vietnamese woman and her Japanese husband have been arrested in Osaka, Japan, for allegedly smuggling 45 tons of rice from Vietnam. According to Japan&rsquo;s The Asahi Shimbun, the scheme reportedly aimed to bypass customs inspections and sell the rice as&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-wrap\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/couple-arrested-for-allegedly-smuggling-45-tons-of-vietnamese-rice-into-japan-to-sell-as-local-variety\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &ldquo;Couple arrested for allegedly smuggling 45 tons of Vietnamese rice into Japan to sell as local variety&rdquo;<\/span> &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8704,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8703\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}