[Zemus]

Sakai speaks about drug use, disappearance

New information is being revealed from Noriko Sakai's questioning by the police. She already admitted using stimulants when she was arrested on Saturday, but now investigators are forming a clearer picture about her drug use and her recent disappearance.

Sakai stated that she started around the summer of last year, when her husband, Yuichi Takaso, suggested that they try the stimulants together. During his own separate interrogation, Takaso also stated that he was the one who encouraged Sakai to try the drugs.

According to Sakai, she usually heated the stimulants and inhaled them using a pipe. Investigators had searched her home and seized some paraphernalia, including straws, along with 8 milligrams of the drug wrapped in aluminum foil. Police say that a typical dosage is 30 milligrams, leading them to suspect that what they confiscated is just a remainder from her prior uses. They are currently trying to determine whether Sakai is a habitual user. A urine test conducted after her arrest showed negative results.

Sakai initially refused to speak about her movements during the past week while she was missing. She has now broken her silence, confirming that she had visited Yamanashi, where her cell phone's signal was last detected. However, she was mainly in Tokyo, spending nights in areas such as Shinjuku and Chuo. She also withdrew money twice from an ATM in Tokyo, and sent an envelope with cash to the friend who was taking care of her son.

The actress also explained some of her thoughts during her disappearance. She said she was surprised when she saw on TV that police were looking for her early on, and she began wondering what to do after learning that the mass media were camped outside the police station where Takaso was being held. When news of her arrest warrant went public, she realized how bad the situation was, so she managed to contact her lawyer to talk about turning herself in.

The investigation is still underway, but meanwhile, Sakai's career is quickly unraveling. Her agency appears to be planning to terminate her contract, especially now that the case has been sent to the prosecutor's office, as of Monday morning. Meanwhile, record label Victor Entertainment has made its own move, announcing that it is suspending all sales of Sakai's music. This covers not only the best album that was scheduled for release next month, but also includes taking her past CDs and DVDs off the shelves of retail stores and canceling additional shipments. Digital distribution is also being cut off. This kind of extreme action is rare, but a similar one happened after Tetsuya Komuro was arrested for fraud last November.

Source: http://www.tokyograph.com/news/id-5132

Now I am extrememly sad.