OSAKA: Youths in southern Japan are increasingly turning to a sedative-laced vape liquid known as “zombie cigarettes”, prompting authorities to tighten monitoring amid concerns it could spread nationwide, Kyodo News reported.
By late September, police in Okinawa Prefecture had arrested 10 individuals, mostly aged in their teens and twenties, for possessing etomidate.
The Japanese government classified the substance as a prohibited drug in May. Etomidate is known to suppress cerebellar neuronal activity, which is vital for body coordination.
In October, police detained Yuto Agarie, believed to be the leader of a drug trafficking group, for allegedly storing nearly sixty four grammes of etomidate-infused liquid at his home in Urasoe for distribution. Investigators believe the group was the main supplier in the prefecture.
Widely used in other countries as an anaesthetic during surgeries, misuse of the drug can lead to loss of consciousness, impaired motor control and spasms in the limbs.
Japan has prohibited the use, possession and import of the substance.
Investigators said the drug has been marketed through secure messaging platforms and spread via social media. It is commonly inhaled using electronic cigarettes or vape devices, available in both flavoured and unflavoured forms.
In August and September, police arrested three Chinese nationals in their twenties near Tokyo for allegedly smuggling about one hundred grammes of etomidate from India via Singapore.
The health ministry’s Narcotics Control Department said the suspects are believed to have received orders through social media, dissolved the powdered drug into liquid form, filled vape cartridges and sold them repeatedly around the Tokyo metropolitan area.
A United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime report released in March noted that etomidate and its analogues have increasingly surfaced in illicit drug markets across East and Southeast Asia in recent years.
“We initially thought its spread in Japan was limited, but investigations now indicate the emergence of a domestic market,” a source familiar with the case said. – BERNAMA
