Tokyo pharmacy operators arrested over prescription drug sales
On.cc · 1 SOURCESabout 3 hours ago5 MIN
Summary
Tokyo police have arrested two people linked to a pharmacy near Takadanobaba Station in Shinjuku over alleged sales of prescription-only medicines without doctors’ prescriptions. The suspects are Wang Pei (王沛), a 40-year-old Chinese national described as the de facto operator of Medix Japan, and Satoshi Hatori (羽鳥聰), 54, the company’s representative director. Investigators allege they conspired between January and June to sell Mounjaro and other drugs to four men and women who did not hold prescriptions. Japanese media also reported that the pharmacy mainly served Chinese customers, including tourists visiting Japan, and built demand through Chinese social media and messaging apps
Key Points
- Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department arrested Wang Pei and Satoshi Hatori on suspicion of violating Japan’s Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Act
- Police allege the pair sold Mounjaro, widely referred to as a weight-loss injection, and other medicines to four customers without prescriptions between January and June
- The pharmacy, First Beauty Pharmacy, is located near JR Takadanobaba Station in Tokyo’s Shinjuku ward and reportedly accepted orders through messaging apps
- From October two years before the pharmacy opened business until June this year, sales were said to total about 65 million yen, or roughly HK$3.25 million
- The Shinjuku ward public health centre inspected the site in February last year, found suspected non-prescription sales problems, and consulted police afterward
Why It Matters
For Hong Kong readers and other travellers in Asia, the case is a reminder that medicines marketed online or through cross-border word of mouth may still be subject to strict prescription controls at the place of sale. It also shows how social media promotion and messaging-based ordering can draw overseas customers into legal and health risks when regulated drugs are sold outside formal medical channels