By SHOKO MIFUNE/ Staff Writer
August 5, 2023 at 13:33 JST
Police officers escort Noriyasu Kitabatake from the dorm of Nihon Universiy’s football team on Aug. 5. (Shoko Mifune)
A member of Nihon University’s American football team was caught up in a drug bust Aug. 5.
Tokyo police said Noriyasu Kitabatake, 21, a junior on the football team, was arrested on suspicion of possessing cannabis and pills that bore traces of stimulant drugs.
Police searched the football team’s dorm in Tokyo’s Nakano Ward on Aug. 3.
Nihon University announced Aug. 5 it was suspending the football team’s activities indefinitely.
The team was training for the Sept. 2 start of the season in the top tier of the Kantoh Collegiate Football Association.
Investigative sources said Kitabatake has admitted to possessing the cannabis, but denied using stimulant drugs.
Sources said he kept miniscule amounts of stimulant drugs and weed in a locked storage box in his room. The amounts came to 0.198 gram and 0.019 gram, respectively.
According to investigative sources, Nihon University officials were informed that one of the football players was using marijuana.
A university investigation of team members led to the discovery of traces of what appeared to be cannabis on July 6.
The university alerted the Metropolitan Police Department about the discovery on July 18.
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