Osaka Company Raided For Producing Chemical Weapon Gas

[Mulboyne]

[floatr][/floatr]Asahi: Ishihara Sangyo suspected of illegally producing poisonous gas
Police raided the headquarters and a factory of an Osaka-based chemical maker Monday on suspicion of illegally producing tons of phosgene gas, which can be used in chemical weapons. Around 9 a.m. Monday, a dozen officers of the Mie prefectural police raided Ishihara Sangyo Kaisha Ltd.'s headquarters in Osaka's Nishi Ward while about 25 investigators searched the factory here. The move came after the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry filed a criminal complaint in Yokkaichi on Friday against the company and officials over suspected violations of the chemical weapons prohibition act. It was the first such complaint by the ministry under the act. The colorless gas is widely used in the production of agrichemicals, polyurethane and synthesized dye. But it was also used as a chemical weapon by the German military during World War I...more...

I'm sure the raid was much more effective after giving the company advance notice.

[Visitor K]

why did mie prefecture police raid an osaka based company?
the whole thing seems odd.

[Greji]

why die mie prefecture police raid an osaka based company?
the whole thing seems odd.

No, that's kind of routine. It generally means that they had the source or otherwise developed the information which was sufficient enough to get the warrants. As a result, regardless of the situs and jurisdiction, they are allowed to serve the warrant and make the appropriate arrests.

This can be a feather in the locals crown to be able to develop a case obtain search/arrest warrants in the jurisdiction next door. The bad news is that it also tends to make police in one jurisdiction jealously protective of their information and in some cases, extremely reluctant to share with other police stations within their own prefecture, let alone another completely separate prefecture.

[Visitor K]

had no idea, interesting..
it says in the story that the company told the mie prefecture police that they werent reporting the manufacturing of the gas.. would there be any reason you can think of that the company would report it to a different prefecture?
if the different departments arent good with sharing information, could they have reported it to mie because osaka already had some dirt on them, and turning themselves into mie somehow got them out of whatever osaka had on them?
just wondering.. you never know what those cheap kansai-jin are up to!