HIGASHI-OSAKA, Osaka Prefecture—Prefectural police arrested a couple here on suspicion of disguising approximately 45 tons of rice from Vietnam as “mung beans” with the intent to pass it off as a high-priced domestically grown variety.
Osaka prefectural police took Tran Thi Thu Huyen, a 36-year-old Vietnamese national and business owner, and her husband, Tomoyuki Takeshige, who is 47 and self-employed, into custody on Oct. 6 on suspicion of violating the Customs Law and Plant Protection Law.
Both reside in Higashi-Osaka and police announced their arrest the same day.
Whether they admitted to or denied the allegations has not been disclosed.
Prefectural police believe the couple tried to take advantage of the recent surge in Japan’s rice prices by importing a cheaper overseas variety to sell under the guise of domestically grown rice.
According to the life environment division of the prefectural police, Huyen runs a company called Frechi LLC that imports and sells fruits and vegetables from Vietnam in Higashi-Osaka. Her husband is also involved in selling Vietnamese food products.
The arrests came after the couple allegedly conspired with others in Vietnam between mid- and late June to load about 45 tons of rice into two shipping containers.
They are accused of then skirting the agriculture ministry’s required inspection at a plant protection station and falsely declaring the contents as mung beans to customs when attempting to have the rice sent to a port in Osaka.
Osaka customs officials noted that rice imports from Vietnam are subject to a tariff of 341 yen ($2.26) per kilogram, while mung beans are tariff-free.
The ruse was uncovered on June 25 when officers from Osaka customs who were inspecting the containers discovered 2,272 cardboard boxes filled with the undeclared rice hidden behind boxes of mung beans.
Following this, Osaka prefectural police and customs authorities launched a joint investigation. This led to raids in July on the couple’s house and other locations connected to them, culminating in seizing documents related to the imports.
Osaka prefectural police also revealed that Huyen’s company had declared shipments as “mung beans” more than 20 times since the beginning of the year.
According to the agriculture ministry, the average price of rice at about 1,000 supermarkets nationwide was around 2,000 yen per 5 kg in early 2024.
The price eventually exceeded 3,000 yen in September 2024 and reached the 4,000-yen range between March and June of this year. Although the average briefly dropped back to the 3,000-yen range, prices returned to the 4,000-yen range in September.
The grain’s temporary disappearance from store shelves incited public uproar over the shortage and soaring costs.
(This article was written by Hiroyuki Kojima and Rikuri Kuroda.)
AloJapan.com