OSAKA -- Three men have been arrested on suspicion of smuggling about 14 tons of "konnyaku" flour from China, police and customs officials said Monday.
Konnyaku is a vegetable root used in Japanese dishes.
Kazuo Matsuzaki, 52, president of a food-making company, and Akira Masui, 58, president of a clearing corporation for imports, are suspected of attempting to break the Customs Law by evading taxes, the police said. Both companies are based in Osaka Prefecture.
The third man arrested is 66-year-old Akira Koyama, an employee of Matsuzaki's firm.
The government imposes high tariffs on imports of konnyaku flour to protect domestic traders. Konnyaku flour carries a 40 percent tariff for up to 267 tons, with a specific tax of 2,796 yen slapped on for every 1 kg above that amount.
According to the authorities, the three tried to evade some 40 million yen in taxes by smuggling about 700 boxes of konnyaku flour in a container that arrived at an Osaka port in mid-September last year.
The two companies had declared the shipment to contain some 900 boxes of "shirataki," a kind of konnyaku in fine noodle form that has a lower tax rate.
Customs officials said they were tipped off about the shipment by China.
They said Matsuzaki has denied the charge, but Masui has admitted it, saying he wanted to "pull in a profit because taxes were so high."