CHIBA, Japan (AP) — An Australian woman accused of smuggling amphetamines in a suitcase appeared before a Japanese court Monday nearly two years after her arrest, saying she is innocent and that she was tricked into taking them as part of an online romance scam.
Donna Nelson of Perth, Australia, was arrested at Japan's Narita International Airport, just outside Tokyo, when customs officials found about 2 kilograms of stimulants, or phenylaminopropane, hidden in a false-bottom suitcase she was carrying.
Nelson, 58, said she received the suitcase from an acquaintance of a man she met on social media and took it from Laos to Tokyo as instructed. She was supposed to meet the man in Japan, but prosecutors say he never showed up.
She was arrested on the spot and later charged with violating stimulant control and customs regulations. She has been in pre-trial detention for almost two years.
Monday's trial comes just weeks after the recent acquittal of an 88-year-old former boxer, Iwao Hakamada, who spent about half a century on death row for wrongful murder convictions. That case reignited concerns about Japan's investigative processes and lengthy trials.
Nelson said in a brief statement at the Chiba District Court near Tokyo that she did not know the drugs were hidden in the suitcase and that she was carrying them for a man she thought she loved.
Prosecutors acknowledged the case was related to a romance scam but accused Nelson of smuggling the drugs and claimed she knew the contents of the suitcase.
Nelson entered the courtroom accompanied by a pair of uniformed guards who removed her handcuffs and a rope around her waist as she sat down to stand trial. She repeatedly looked at her daughters sitting in the audience.
It was an emotional moment for her and her family to see each other for the first time since her trip two years ago. Her daughters said they believe their mother is innocent.
One of Nelson's daughters, Kristal Hilaire, said she wants the court to know her mother is a good person.
“She thought she came to Japan for her love story. She had no other intentions. And that is what everyone needs to know and hear in court this week,” said Hilaire.
The daughter added that the family is “just trying to be strong because when mom puts her eyes on us, I want her to feel our strength and she will feed off of it.”
During Monday's hearing, Nelson's attorney Rie Nishida said her client is the victim of a romance scam and that her trust and love were “taken advantage of.”
Nishida said the limited English language skills of customs officials led to mistranslations and accusations that Nelson knew what she was carrying.
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AP video journalist Mayuko Ono contributed.
