The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Mfat) says it has been in contact with a heavily pregnant New Zealand woman and her partner being held in a Japanese jail accused of smuggling methamphetamine into the country.
The woman, 25, and the man, 26, were arrested last month after allegedly being caught with 2kg of methamphetamine with a street value of $2m in New Zealand.
The drugs were allegedly found in their luggage on their arrival from Thailand at Tokyo's Narita International Airport.
An Mfat spokeswoman told NZPA today the couple had been contacted by the NZ embassy in Japan and offered consulate advice.
"We are also in touch with the families back in New Zealand."
The Japanese case comes weeks after Wellington woman Sharon Armstrong was caught in the Argentinian capital Buenos Aires with 5kg of cocaine in her luggage.
The former Maori Language Commission deputy chief executive is now being held in jail pending possible charges.
She has admitted she knew about a parcel hidden in her suitcase but she thought it contained documents which a man she met online had asked her to take with her to London.
Police said yesterday that an increasing number of New Zealanders were being caught acting as drug "mules", carrying illegal substances in and out of the country.
"The risks these people take are huge. We are finding more and more people are getting caught up in it all for a bit of extra cash or some
other benefit," police assistant commissioner Malcolm Burgess said.
He said the temptation for some people to take the risk was often outweighed by the cash they could make smuggling drugs.
However, if they were caught the consequences were life-ruining and inevitably meant a long jail sentence or a death sentence in some countries.
Seldom was a traveller an unwitting "mule" and most knowingly agreed to carry drugs.
He said anyone approached with a tempting offer to be a drug mule should call police, Customs or Crimestoppers.
