Oh No! Komukai Hit with Arrest Warrant -- Again!
Komukai Minako (小向美奈子), star of Flower and Snake 3 (花と蛇3), is suspected of purchasing stimulant drugs and Tokyo police have obtained a warrant for her arrest.
This isn't the first time the 25-year-old entertainer has run afoul of Japanese drug laws. She received an 18-month prison sentence in 2009 for the same offense but her sentence was suspended for three years. As such, Ms. Komukai was on probation at the time the new charges were filed.
I am reliably informed that the morning news shows were all over the story and that Dan Oniroku even appeared in an interview opining on the matter.
I've looked around but there doesn't appear to be any new footage available on the interwebz, just warmed-over stuff from Ms. Komukai's previous run-in with the law.
Ms. Komukai appears to be currently incomunicado. Reports say her whereabouts are unknown.
In this report it says that Ms. Komukai stands accused of purchasing the drugs from a group of Iranians in the summer of 2010 and that her name was on a "customer list" confiscated from the alleged drug dealers. How in the world her name would appear on such a list is beyond me. We'll just have to wait to find out the details. But first the cops have to find her.
Komukai Minako began her career as a gravure/bikini model and then moved on to the strip theater circuit and was eventually chosen for the lead role in Flower and Snake 3, the most recent film inspired by the Dan Oniroku novel. The movie was recently released on DVD and Blu-ray in Japan. She has also made television appearances and is supposed to have a new book coming out.
I don't know about the book but it now seems that her next television appearance will be of the variety where they mosaic out the prisoner's handcuffs.
Say it isn't so!
UPDATES:
02/26 Well, she's back. Komukai Minako returned to Tokyo Friday on a Japan Airlines flight from Manila and was promptly arrested and taken into custody by Japanese police at Narita Airport. Talk about a perp walk! The media were out in force, even grabbing lipstick-cam footage of Komukai during the flight back as well as her arrival at the airport in Manila. Media are reporting that Komukai is denying the charges. As far as I know right now, the evidence against her consists of her name on some Iranian alleged drug dealer's cell phone and perhaps the testimony of an Iranian sleazeball. Here's a report in English.
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02/12 Komukai has been tracked down by a TV news crew in the Makati district of Manila. She was accompanied by an unidentified man who appeared to be in his late twenties. She did not answer questions and eventually got into a cab and took off. Some media are describing Komukai as a "fugitive". The Philippine Immigration Bureau has said that Komukai extended her stay in the country on Feb. 8 and that the extension is valid until March 21.
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02/13 Media are reporting that Komukai canceled her return flight to Japan. She has been spotted at an ATM in an area of luxury hotels in Manila.
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02/11 Still believed to be in the Philippines. Entered January 21. No record of leaving. Apparently, a Japanese national can enter the Philippines without a visa and stay for 21 days. However, the visa can be extended relatively easily. Japanese media are canvassing Manila -- places such as Japanese restaurants. Media report that Komukai has been spotted with a group of men presumed to be Japanese.
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The news is reporting that Komukai traveled to the Philippines in January. Her manager said the trip had been scheduled prior to any knowledge of the most recent revelations. He also said that Komukai had gained a lot of weight in 2010 and he had warned her that it could adversely affect her career.
As far as is known right now, Komukai is still somewhere in the Philippines.
Commentators and legal experts are speculating concerning the punishment Komukai might face if found guilty of the new charges. If found guilty, sentencing might be harsher due to the fact she was on probation for the earlier drugs offense. In addition, she might have to serve the full 18-month suspended sentence from 2009.
Another report said that one of the arrested Iranians had fingered Komukai as a customer.
KabukiJoe
