The Japanese giant of Drinks Suntory announced on Tuesday the resignation of his charismatic managing director, suspected by the police for possession of illegal substances. Takeshi Niinami, 66, is the subject of an investigation in relation to the arrest of a man in a drug case in July, according to the Jiji news agency.
Police registered their home in August, but denied any participation and no illicit substance was found. “Niinami explained that the investigation was about a food supplement he had bought when he thought it was legal,” said suntory president at a press conference on Tuesday in Tokyo. “The Police continue their investigation” and Suntory “considers that the legality or not of this supplement must be decided by the police authorities.”
According to police sources cited by the Japanese television channel, it is suspected that Takeshi Niinami received from the products of the United States containing THC, the main active ingredient of cannabis. During the search, Niinami would have told the police that he thought it was a legal product and that “female knowledge had sent it to him without him asking him.”
Products containing THC of the United States
Takeshi Niinami, who is also at the head of the Organization of Japanese employers Keizai Doyukai, joined Suntory Holdings in 2014, after holding the position of the general director of the Lawson Depressor Chain of Lawson Proximity. Known for his Frankish positions, he had significantly criticized the older children’s band agency in Japan after the revelations about sexual abuse committed by its founder who died in 2023.
Antory, famous for his recognized worldly whiskey, had appointed a new president in March, Nobuhiro Torii, replacing Takeshi Niinami. Nobuhiro Torii is the great -grandson of founder Shinjiro Torii. Japan applies strict drug laws and the possession of drugs or prohibited substances can cause prison terms. In 2024, the former head of the Japanese society for Olympus Medical Optics was declared guilty of buying drugs and sentenced to prison sentence. And in 2017, a German executive who worked at Volkswagen in Tokyo had been arrested for drug possession.
Source: BFM TV
