GSDF private's stimulants bust kept under wraps

A Ground Self-Defense Force enlisted man whose August drug bust was kept under wraps went on trial Tuesday, GSDF officials said.

The GSDF discharged Leading Pvt. Akihiro Takeuchi, 24, on disciplinary grounds on Sept. 13 but, in line with a police "request," did not to publicize his arrest and subsequent indictment for possessing stimulants before the first session of his trial, the officials said Tuesday.

Takeuchi, an ammunition loader with the 10th Tank Battalion in Takashima, Shiga Prefecture, pleaded guilty to the charge during the session before the Toyohashi branch of the Nagoya District Court.

Prosecutors demanded 18 months in prison during the session.

Takeuchi was arrested on Aug. 23 while on leave, on suspicion of possessing 0.1 gram of amphetamines at a hotel in Toyokawa, Aichi Prefecture, according to the GSDF and Aichi police.

Police have since turned over to prosecutors their case alleging he also used stimulants, they said.

The revelation follows a series of drug-linked arrests of a number of Maritime Self-Defense Force sailors.