|
Toyota President Akio Toyoda apologized for the incident at a
news conference and reiterated the company's belief that Hamp
had no intent of breaking the law.
"To me, executives and staff who are my direct reports are like
my children," he said.
"It's the responsibility of a parent to protect his children
and, if a child causes problems, it's also a parent's
responsibility to apologize."
Japanese media reports, citing police investigators, said 57
addictive Oxycodone pills were found in a small parcel labeled
"necklaces" that was sent from the United States and addressed
to Hamp in Japan. The pills were in packets or buried at the
bottom of the parcel, which also contained toy pendants and
necklaces, they said.
Hamp, a former General Motors Co and PepsiCo Inc executive, told
police she did not think she had imported an illegal substance,
a spokesman for Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department said.
A police official declined to comment on the latest media
reports about the parcel.
Hamp was appointed managing officer in April as part of a drive
to diversify Toyota's male-dominated, mostly Japanese executive
line-up. She joined Toyota's North American unit in 2012 and
this month relocated to Tokyo, where she was to be based. She
had been staying in a hotel, a Toyota spokeswoman said.
Toyoda vowed that the automaker would maintain its policy of
seeking out talent regardless of gender or nationality and
expressed regret that the company had not provided enough
support for an employee who was not Japanese and had come to
live in Japan.
Oxycodone is a prescription drug in both the United States and
Japan. Bringing it into Japan requires prior approval from the
government and it must be carried by the individual, a health
ministry official said.
Hiroaki Okamoto, a criminal defense lawyer at the Nakamura
International Criminal Defense Office in Tokyo who is not
involved in Hamp's case, said the large number of pills meant
that, if indicted, she could face years in prison, followed by
deportation.
The maximum sentence for smuggling drugs with the intent to sell
is life in prison, he said. Even if indicted for smuggling for
personal use, it would be tough to get a suspended sentence
because of the large number of pills, he said.
(Additional reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Edmund
Klamann)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
