Toyota's Top Female Executive Arrested In Japan On Drug Charges

[Tragic Bronson]

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/20...drug-laws-put-expats-risk-execs-arrest-shows/

Strict drug laws put expats at risk, exec’s arrest shows

Thursday’s arrest of a high-profile Toyota Motor Corp. executive highlights the danger globetrotters can face bringing psychotropic or other medications into nations where they are banned.

Julie Hamp, named Toyota’s first female managing officer in April, faces drug-smuggling charges after having oxycodone pills sent to her from the United States, said a spokesman for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, declining to be named on policy grounds. Her arrest was front-page news in Japan, coming amid a widely publicized crackdown on the sale of mood-altering herbs that previously fell outside the nation’s strict laws against recreational drugs.

Hamp denies that she imported illegal drugs, the police spokesman said. Toyota spokesman Itsuki Kurosu said in an emailed statement the company is cooperating with the investigation.

Hamp, 55, “said she did not believe she had imported narcotics when she was arrested,” another police official said.

By midday Friday, she had been sent to the prosecutor’s office, a third official said.

In a hastily arranged news conference, Toyota President Akio Toyoda apologized for causing a stir and vowed to cooperate fully with the investigation.

He said Hamp is a “very important colleague and for me and Toyota . . . we believe that the investigation will reveal that Ms. Julie Hamp had no intention to violate the law.”

Toyoda said he appointed her as the head of communications mainly due to her personality and efforts to work closely with other employees, adding she has been also trying hard to adjust to Japanese culture.

The parcel was sent on June 8 from the U.S. and arrived at Narita airport on June 11, the police official said.

The package, labelled “necklaces,” contained several small boxes, each holding accessories and several tablets, reports said, adding police suspect there had been an attempt to hide the drug.

Hamp was promoted to head of communications for the auto giant earlier this year — making her one of the company’s most senior non-Japanese executives — after previously working at Toyota’s North American division.

The incident illustrates the different perceptions of drugs such as oxycodone, an opioid pain medication, which are more casually prescribed in the U.S. No matter how routine at home, the use of psychotropic drugs is strictly controlled in Japan and foreign visitors need to be careful, said Robert Dujarric, a director at the Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies of Temple University.

“It’s considered by the authorities as equivalent to a friend mailing you in the U.S. with opium from Afghanistan,” Dujarric said. “Psychotropic medicines as well as prescription drugs that are legal in the U.S. are illegal in Japan,” where there’s stronger concern about addiction, he said.

Earlier this year, Carrie Russell of the U.S. was detained for 18 days after her mother mailed her an amphetamine medication for attention-deficit disorder. The 26-year-old English teacher was released in March only after a personal appeal from American Ambassador Caroline Kennedy.

The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo warns its citizens to check before mailing or carrying medication to Japan, or face arrest and detention.

“Heroin, cocaine, MDMA, opium, cannabis, stimulant drugs including some prescription medications such as Adderall . . . are prohibited in Japan,” the embassy says on its website.

“Japanese customs officials or police can detain travellers importing prohibited items. Japanese customs officials do not make on-the-spot ‘humanitarian’ exceptions for medicines that are prohibited in Japan,” it warned.

Of the 13,121 individuals charged with drug crimes last year, 778, or 5.9 percent, were foreigners, according to national police data. More than 80 percent of the crimes involved methamphetamines.

The same year, cases of drug smuggling rose 11 percent to 245, according to police data, which does not indicate how many cases involved prescription medicines.

Japan allows individuals to bring restricted prescription drugs such as oxycodone into the country with prior approval, according to the health ministry’s website, which lists oxycodone as a “narcotic.”

It is possible that illegal imports of painkillers and other drugs are increasing, and police decided to send a strong message with the arrest of Hamp, Dujarric said.

“It’s either a strong message or there’s something else behind the story.”

With Toyota bringing on more non-Japanese executives to Japan, these kinds of incidents are trying times....

 

[Tragic Bronson]

http://www.autonews.com/article/201...toyoda-defends-close-friend-hamp-after-arrest

TOKYO -- Akio Toyoda defended his “close friend” and global communications chief Julie Hamp a day after her arrest for allegedly importing narcotic painkillers and promised that the police investigation will show that the company’s first female upper-level executive had no intention of breaking Japanese law.

Toyota Motor Corp.’s president said there are still many unknowns in the case and refrained from answering some sensitive questions, citing legal and privacy concerns. But Toyoda praised Hamp’s character and contributions to the company and discouraged a rush to justice.

In a sign of contrition, the world’s biggest carmaker also pulled advertising from key evening television slots in Japan to maintain a subdued profile as domestic media latched onto the story. Toyota also canceled a press event to announce a new range of turbodiesel engines.

“I apologize for the confusion surrounding recent events,” Toyoda said at a hastily called evening news conference late Friday, the day after police arrested Hamp at a Tokyo hotel. “In addition to being a close friend of mine, Julie Hamp is an invaluable member of Toyota’s team.”

Toyoda applauded the American businesswoman’s efforts to acculturate to Japan as the first non-Japanese Toyota executive to take up permanent residence at the company’s home base. He also reaffirmed his commitment to diversifying upper management with more non-Japanese executives.

“We are confident, however, that once the investigation is complete, it will be revealed there was no intention on Julie’s part to violate any law,” said Toyoda, who tried to promote a more international mindset at the company’s Japan operations with a personnel shake-up in March.

‘My children’

At the time, Toyota promoted Hamp, 55, in addition to a Frenchman and an African-American man to unprecedented positions of power at its global headquarters. The goal: Inject a wider perspective into an upper management dominated almost exclusively by older Japanese men.

President Toyoda, grandson of the carmaker's founder and the third family member at the helm, aims to reform Toyota into a business more representative of its global reach.

As the world's biggest automaker, Toyota derives about three-quarters of its sales from overseas. About 80 percent of the company's 338,875 employees are outside Japan.

Toyoda said the new personnel priorities won’t change.

“We will maintain this diversity promotion policy,” he said, adding that he felt a personal bond of responsibility to Hamp because she was a direct report to him.

“All of them are like my children. Protecting the children is the responsibility of the parents,” Toyoda said. “Ms. Hamp is a very important, trustworthy friend.”

But as the week shows, cultural complexities still throw up roadblocks.

Necklace parcel

Hamp was appointed managing officer and chief communications officer in April. The former General Motors and PepsiCo executive told police she did not think she had imported an illegal substance, a spokesman for Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department said.

That is especially true with Japan’s drug control laws, so stringent they even prohibit over-the-counter medicines common in the United States, such as Sudafed or Actifed.

The police spokesman said oxycodone was sent via international mail from the U.S. to Tokyo's Narita Airport. The package was intercepted by customs agents at the airport on June 11, he said.

While oxycodone is a legally prescribed medicine in the United States and Japan, its import is heavily controlled by a thatch of paperwork and government approvals, said an official at the Compliance and Narcotics Division of Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

With proper approval, people may import the drug via hand luggage, but sending it by mail is prohibited in all cases, he said. Those traveling with a prescription from the U.S. must fill out an application from Japan’s health ministry and receive approval before arriving in Japan, he said.

On Friday, Japanese media reports cited police investigators as saying that a parcel addressed to Hamp and labeled "necklaces" contained 57 oxycodone pills buried at the bottom or in packages. The parcel contained toy necklaces and pendants as well as the pills, they said.

Fast response

Toyoda said his company was cooperating fully with the investigation.

Senior Managing Officer Shigeru Hayakawa, who was also present at the Friday news conference, said authorities have not searched Toyota offices or looked through Hamp’s files.

Toyota executives declined to say whether Hamp had a prescription for the oxycodone or whether she had a medical condition that necessitated the addictive painkiller.

Hamp was hired by Toyota Motor North America just three years ago as the company sought to repair an image battered by a string of recalls and class-action lawsuits.

She had previously spent five years at PepsiCo and, before that, a quarter-century at GM.

Hamp’s arrest is an embarrassment for Toyota, which had positioned her as a rising star in breathing American-style public relations into a closed and opaque Japanese operation.

But Toyoda’s quick response by personally appearing at the news conference a day after the arrest to address the matter showed a marked improvement from his reaction during the 2010 unintended acceleration recalls. At that time, the company was criticized for being slow and evasive.

Hiroaki Okamoto, a criminal defense lawyer at the Nakamura International Criminal Defense Office in Tokyo who is not involved in Hamp’s case, told the Reuters news agency that the large number of pills meant that, if found guilty, she could face years in prison, followed by deportation.

If found guilty, it would be difficult for her to win a suspended sentence, even without an intent to sell, because of the quantity of pills, Okamoto told Reuters.

 

[mmcartalk]

I hope she doesn't have cancer or some other painful disease where she has to take those pills herself. Oxycontin (oxycodone) is a narcotic opiate drug, which, like heroin, morphene, and opium, comes from poppies. It is given, by prescription, to those with very painful conditions that milder drugs can't handle. If she had a legal prescription for it (prescriptions are required both in the U.S. and Japan), then I don't see what all the fuss is about her bringing it into the country. It's not like she was caught bringing in illegal stuff from a drug-cartel to sell on the streets for a profit. She doesn't have to do that.....she probably makes a high-six-figure (or even a seven-figure) salary at Toyota.

 

[RAL]

I have a great deal of respect for Akio Toyoda. I think his willingness to stand so publicly behind his "friend" speaks volumes about his character.

I've had to take oxycodone for kidney stone pain.

 

[mmcartalk]

I have a great deal of respect for Akio Toyoda. I think his willingness to stand so publicly behind his "friend" speaks volumes about his character.

Part of that may be simply Japanese culture. In Japan, companies are more or less like one large family. That's one reason, among several, why Japanese workers are so loyal.\

I've had to take oxycodone for kidney stone pain.

Sorry you had to go through that. Glad it helped. I hope you healed up OK.

 

[Och]

I hope she doesn't have cancer or some other painful disease where she has to take those pills herself. Oxycontin (oxycodone) is a narcotic opiate drug, which, like heroin, morphene, and opium, comes from poppies. It is given, by prescription, to those with very painful conditions that milder drugs can't handle. If she had a legal prescription for it (prescriptions are required both in the U.S. and Japan), then I don't see what all the fuss is about her bringing it into the country. It's not like she was caught bringing in illegal stuff from a drug-cartel to sell on the streets for a profit. She doesn't have to do that.....she probably makes a high-six-figure (or even a seven-figure) salary at Toyota.

Prescription pills are also often abused, as they have more or less the same effect as heroine. I know a few people that are addicted to those pills, and I wouldn't trust them flipping burgers, never mind having any part of being in charge of a company like Toyota.

 

[CIF]

What a strange situation .

 

[mmcartalk]

What a strange situation .

I don't know if you are old enough to remember this one, but to me, it was probably no stranger than when John DeLorean got nabbed with a suitcase full of cocaine, back in the early 1980s, although the circumstances were somewhat different, and he claimed to his dying day that it was a set-up. DeLorean, of course, ran his own company, where she worked for Mr. Toyoda.

 

[IS-SV]

I don't know if you are old enough to remember this one, but probably no stranger than when John DeLorean got nabbed with a suitcase full of cocaine, back in the early 1980s, although the circumstances were somewhat different, and he claimed to his dying day that it was a set-up. DeLorean, of course, ran his own company, where she was a subordinate.

Yes, old enough and still remember, lol. Circumstances were very different and he (John DeLorean) was not convicted on the drug charges in the end (not guilty verdict).

Agreed, this latest situation in rather strange and sad too.

 

[mmcartalk]

Yes, old enough and still remember, lol. Circumstances were very different and he (John DeLorean) was not convicted on the drug charges in the end (not guilty verdict).

Agreed, this latest situation in rather strange and sad too.

Given that she at least had a American-legal prescription for the stuff, and simply broke a packaging law bringing the pills into Japan and not much else, I don't see her doing any real time in prison, either, though she might get a fine, lesser penalty, and/or a reprimand from the Japanese government.

I made the statement about remembering that far back (to DeLorean's nabbing) because I don't know everyone's age on this forum, and a lot of members in forums like this are often still in their 20s.

 

[IS-SV]

Yes, agreed on above. We do seem to have a good range of ages on Lexus Enthusiast, a good thing.

 

[mikeavelli]

Japan is very very strict on drugs. While we are becoming more open to marijuana, in Japan if you are caught with just a tad, they throw the entire country at you, its a major offense. I think the issue here might be not that a bottle of pills was sent and one was unaware of the law, it seems the pills were trying to be smuggled in which means someone knew of the consequences and laws about the pills.

 

[krew]

This whole thing is turning into a nightmare -- Bertel Schmitt over at Daily Kanban has some pretty good coverage of the situation:

Today, the steady drip of leaks from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police says that Toyota’s PR chief Julie Hamp was not in any pain before she received the package of contraband painkillers. An “investigative source” told Kyodo News that Julie Hamp did not have a health condition requiring the use of painkillers.

According to the report, “a routine health checkup conducted after the arrest of managing officer Julie Hamp on Thursday to examine her health status prior to detention showed she did not have any particular problem.” At yesterday’s news conference, Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda sidestepped questions whether Ms. Hamp was in pain, or whether she had a prescription for painkillers.

http://dailykanban.com/2015/06/julie-hamp-did-not-require-pain-medication-reports-say/

 

[spwolf]

saddest part about this is that this was western executive and first woman executive at Toyota.

 

[Tragic Bronson]

http://www.autonews.com/article/20150622/OEM02/306229967/bumps-in-toyotas-road-to-diversity

Bumps in Toyota's road to diversity
President stands by embattled American, French executives

TOKYO -- Just three months ago, Akio Toyoda sent shock waves through Toyota Motor Corp., promoting three non-Japanese executives to top positions at headquarters in an effort to make the company's leadership reflect its global reach.

Yet a pair of culture clashes last week suggest that the Toyota chief's effort to shake up the company won't be easy.

On Tuesday, Didier Leroy, a Frenchman who was appointed in March to become Toyota Motor Corp.'s first non-Japanese executive vice president, came under fire at the annual shareholder meeting from dealers who were miffed that he speaks little Japanese. It was the first time a non-Japanese executive had addressed shareholders at Toyota's annual meeting.

Two days later, global communications chief Julie Hamp, an American who was named Toyota's first senior-level female executive in March, was arrested at a Tokyo hotel for allegedly importing a narcotic painkiller in an apparent violation of Japan's strict drug laws.

The stumbles with two high-profile foreign executives cast a pall over what had been a bold move forward in the internationalization of the world's biggest automaker. The company's outward-looking leader had elevated Hamp, Leroy and others, including an African-American executive, in the hope of injecting fresh thinking and wider global perspective into an upper management long dominated by older Japanese men. The aim of the March shake-up was to make the world's largest automaker more representative of the global markets it serves.

Toyota derives about three-quarters of its sales from overseas. About 80 percent of the company's 338,875 employees are outside Japan.

But last week's events called attention to a persistent cultural divide.

Toyota had positioned Hamp as a rising star in breathing U.S.-style public relations into an opaque Japanese operation. The 55-year-old was hired by Toyota Motor North America just three years ago as the company sought to repair an image battered by a string of recalls and class-action lawsuits. She came to Toyota after five years at PepsiCo and, before that, 25 years at General Motors.

At a hastily called evening news conference the day after Hamp's arrest, Toyoda was grilled about whether it would trigger a rethinking at Toyota about opening its doors.

The simple answer from Toyoda -- president of the company and grandson of its founder -- was no.

"We will maintain this diversity promotion policy," he said, adding that he felt a personal bond of responsibility to Hamp because she was one of his direct reports. He suggested that Toyota had not done enough to prepare Hamp for settling in Japan and adjusting to its rules and mores.

"All of them are like my children," Toyoda said of his executives. "Protecting the children is the responsibility of the parents. Ms. Hamp is a very important, trustworthy friend."

But in a sign of contrition, Toyota pulled its TV advertising from key time slots in Japan to maintain a low profile as domestic media latched onto the story. Toyota also canceled a press event to announce a new range of turbodiesel engines.

"I apologize for the confusion surrounding recent events," Toyoda said. "In addition to being a close friend of mine, Julie Hamp is an invaluable member of Toyota's team."

On Friday, June 19, Japanese media reports cited police investigators as saying that a parcel addressed to Hamp and labeled "necklaces" contained 57 oxycodone pills buried at the bottom or in packets, as well as toy necklaces and pendants.

A Tokyo police spokesman said the package was sent via international mail from the U.S. and was intercepted by customs agents at Tokyo's Narita airport on June 11. Hamp told police she didn't think she had imported an illegal substance, the spokesman said.

Oxycodone is a legal prescription medicine in the U.S. and Japan, but Japanese regulations heavily restrict its import through a thatch of paperwork and government approvals, said an official at Japan's Health Ministry. Toyota declined to comment on whether Hamp had a prescription for the medication.

Hamp's arrest came just after Leroy, Toyota's first non-Japanese executive vice president, made his debut at the company's annual shareholders' meeting.

Not all the attendees were impressed.

One domestic dealer said he was "shocked" that Leroy, 57, would be put in charge of Toyota's businesses in advanced markets, including Japan, according to a transcript of the gathering.

Another shareholder asked how much Japanese Leroy could even speak, and then bluntly opined that the home market should by run by a Japanese speaker.

The event, which was designed to introduce the new executive vice president and board member as the fresh face of a new, more international Toyota, soon devolved into a scramble among executives to defend the Frenchman.

Masamoto Maekawa, the retiring executive vice president whom Leroy is succeeding, tried to reassure dealers that their main point of contact would still be Japanese regional managers.

And Toyoda jumped in to argue that language skills were only one set of tools, and that age, gender and nationality shouldn't be constraints in placing qualified people.

After Hamp's arrest, Toyoda continued to put a positive spin on the growing pains.

"It's a new situation for us," he said, sticking to his diversity mantra. "We want to become a truly global company. ... We have to choose the appropriate person for each position."

 

[mmcartalk]

Well, given that the media sources can't seem to agree on whether she had a legal prescription or not, or whether she had a medical condition requiring the use of those pills, I'm not going to make any more comments on the incident until that issue becomes clear. I based my former comments on the assumption, given in the first media reports, that she had a legal prescription and simply packaged them wrong for importation.

 

[spwolf]

doesnt matter if she had prescription or not... it is moral argument that might decide the sentence but legally it is does not matter... you cant import illegal drugs into the country even if they are legal somewhere else... Same would happen if you tried to import some drug thats legal in Europe but not in the USA. Besides, way it was done, it seems she was quite aware.

 

[Tragic Bronson]

http://www.autonews.com/article/201...-by-police-over-executives-arrest-report-says

Toyota HQ raided by police over executive's arrest, report says

TOKYO (Reuters) -- Toyota Motor Corp.'s headquarters was raided by police over the arrest of the company's new communications chief, Julie Hamp, for the alleged illegal import of painkillers, the Asahi newspaper reported today.

"We will continue to cooperate fully with the investigation," Toyota said in a statement. "We are refraining from commenting on any related matters while the investigation is still ongoing."

Toyota President Akio Toyoda apologized on Friday after Hamp, 55, an American and Toyota's first senior female executive, was arrested on suspicion of illegally bringing pain killers into Japan just two months after her appointment.

Toyoda also expressed support for Hamp, saying the company was confident the investigation would show she had not intended to break any laws.

Hamp told police she brought the drugs into Japan to treat pain in her knees, Kyodo News reported earlier today.

 

[CIF]

Wow this is becoming a bigger public nightmare for Toyota than I thought!

It looks like Toyota's efforts to increase diversity have backfired big-time, at least in this specific situation. As a consequence, I foresee Toyota likely scaling back diversity efforts at least for higher-up positions, and more thoroughly vetting candidates.

I don't know if you are old enough to remember this one, but to me, it was probably no stranger than when John DeLorean got nabbed with a suitcase full of cocaine, back in the early 1980s, although the circumstances were somewhat different, and he claimed to his dying day that it was a set-up. DeLorean, of course, ran his own company, where she worked for Mr. Toyoda.

Well I wasn't even born at the time , but as an avid observer of the auto industry, I'm well aware of that really wild situation with John DeLorean. A situation that seems straight out of an 80s action movie.

 

[mmcartalk]

Wow this is becoming a bigger public nightmare for Toyota than I thought!

It looks like Toyota's efforts to increase diversity have backfired big-time, at least in this specific situation. As a consequence, I foresee Toyota likely scaling back diversity efforts at least for higher-up positions, and more thoroughly vetting candidates.

Maybe so, but there are plenty of women out there, If Toyota wants one, that are capable of being execs, without getting the company in hot water over incidents like this.