Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Investigator hints at drug gang link in case of missing Briton

Richard Lloyd Parry
Tuesday 03 October 2000 00:00 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The disappearance of Lucie Blackman, the former British Airways stewardess who vanished in Tokyo, may have been linked with the Japanese drug trade, according to a former British policeman who is helping with the investigation.

The disappearance of Lucie Blackman, the former British Airways stewardess who vanished in Tokyo, may have been linked with the Japanese drug trade, according to a former British policeman who is helping with the investigation.

David Davies, who was in the Metropolitan Police's Royal Protection Squad, said Miss Blackman, 22, may have been sucked into the trade in the drug crystal methamphetamine, which is sold and used in the Roppongi area, where Miss Blackman was a bar hostess.

"It's important to emphasise that Lucie is not the kind of girl who would have taken this stuff herself," Mr Davies said after meeting Japanese police yesterday. "But some of her fellow hostesses do not have the same morals and in Roppongi there is an undercurrent of drugs and sex. She could have been asked to carry something or to take a message and may ... have become inadvertently involved."

Miss Blackman disappeared on 1 July after going for lunch with an unknown man, apparently a customer from the club where she worked. She told acquaintances she was going to Yokohama. At 5pm she rang to say she was "at the seaside" and later to say she would be home in an hour. Next day a man called to say she had joined a cult, although this was regarded as a ploy to throw investigators off the trail.

The disappearance is still being treated as a missing-person case rather than a crime, limiting the police's investigative powers. "There shouldn't be any doubt that this is a criminal abduction," said Mr Davies. "The greatest mystery is that from the moment she [Miss Blackman] stepped out of her house at 3.30 on that afternoon, nobody appears to have seen her."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in