YOKOHAMA –
The Kanagawa Prefectural Police arrested an employee of a major trading company on Thursday for allegedly trespassing into a U.S. military base in violation of the Special Criminal Act under the Japan-U.S. status-of-forces agreement.
The suspect, 45-year-old Yoshitaka Mizuno, returned from Iraq, where he had been stationed for work, earlier in the day.
Mizuno told police that he had been attracted by the U.S. military and wanted to interact with them as much as possible, according to investigative sources.
Mizuno is suspected of entering the U.S. Navy’s Yokosuka base in Kanagawa Prefecture without authorization on Oct. 23 last year.
At the Yokosuka base, he reportedly rented a car for about two weeks and drove it in and out of the facility. When he later parked the vehicle on a street near his home in Tokyo’s Minato Ward, the Metropolitan Police Department cited him for a parking violation, bringing the suspicion of illegal entry to light.
To enter U.S. military-related facilities, outsiders are required to have an ID card issued by the U.S. military or be accompanied by U.S. military personnel.
The prefectural police will investigate how he obtained the forged cards and for what they were used. He is also suspected of illegally entering U.S. military facilities multiple times on other occasions.
AloJapan.com