Hiroshima Acting Owner Matsuda: “No Conclusion Yet on Yano and Maekawa” Amid ‘Zombie Cigarette’ Drug Probe

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The story

On the 16th, defendant Ryosuke Takiguchi — charged with providing the designated drug etomidate, nicknamed “zombie cigarettes,” to former Hiroshima Carp player Ryutaro Hazuki — received a same-day guilty verdict: two years’ imprisonment, suspended for four years. That same day, acting owner Kazuhiro Matsuda told reporters in Tokyo that “the police investigation isn’t fully wrapped up yet,” adding that there’s “still no conclusion” regarding players Yano and Maekawa, whose homes were searched. Both players remain with the third-string squad for now. On 5ch, posters reacted with surprise that the Carp even have a third team, while debating how far discipline should extend beyond Hazuki.

Hiroshima Carp acting owner Kazuhiro Matsuda spoke to reporters on the 16th following an owners’ meeting in Tokyo, once again addressing the ongoing scandal over the designated drug etomidate, known as “zombie cigarettes,” after a former player received a guilty verdict.

That day, the first hearing was held at the Hiroshima District Court for defendant Ryosuke Takiguchi, charged with violating the Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Act for allegedly providing “zombie cigarettes” to former player Ryutaro Hazuki, among other things.

A same-day verdict found him guilty, handing down two years’ imprisonment suspended for four years, but acting owner Matsuda said, “I don’t think the police investigation is fully finished yet.”

Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here

What people said

5AnonymousSep 17, 2026 16:04
What about the heated-fork incident?
16AnonymousSep 17, 2026 16:09
Re: #5
That's because it's yesterday's article
9AnonymousSep 17, 2026 16:05
Don't forget to add the power-harassment branding-iron incident too
14AnonymousSep 17, 2026 16:09
Let's all root for Sanfrecce instead!
What's even fun about cheering for a team like this?
21AnonymousSep 17, 2026 16:11
Re: #14
The soccer club that tried to build its new stadium on the old municipal ballpark site so it'd photobomb the A-Bomb Dome in the background… yeah, let's not go there 😅
15AnonymousSep 17, 2026 16:09
Wait, the Carp even have a third-string team?
24AnonymousSep 17, 2026 16:13
Guess Kozono's fine now lol

Re: #15
The second team already plays at some secluded ballpark deep in the mountains, so where would the third team even play lol
31AnonymousSep 17, 2026 16:18
Re: #24
> The Hiroshima Carp's Ono training ground used to let fans onto the grounds to watch practice, but due to visitor manner issues, it's now off-limits.
> By the way, the dorm for young players inside the Ono indoor training facility is named "Casa di CARPIO," which apparently means "House of the Carp" in Italian.
18AnonymousSep 17, 2026 16:10
Hiroshima has a third team? That's what actually surprised me.
I thought only the Giants and Hawks had one.
22AnonymousSep 17, 2026 16:12
Re: #18
Hiroshima's third team is where injured guys go to recover.
37AnonymousSep 17, 2026 16:25
Re: #18
Didn't Seibu have one too?
20AnonymousSep 17, 2026 16:11
The level in the third team is probably in a completely different league.
23AnonymousSep 17, 2026 16:12
Wasn't it the dealer who said he didn't sell to anyone besides Hazuki?
26AnonymousSep 17, 2026 16:13
Never heard of this "Maekawa" guy, but Yano's a core player, isn't he?
Hurry up and finish the investigation so he can come back.
33AnonymousSep 17, 2026 16:21
Re: #26
No can do for Yano — there's a photo of him sleeping in the same hotel room as the zombie-cigarette dealer.
Even if it turns out he never touched the stuff himself, it's already confirmed he was hanging around anti-social forces (yakuza-linked figures).
Even if he's cleared of actually using it, they probably won't call him up this season regardless.
29AnonymousSep 17, 2026 16:17

32AnonymousSep 17, 2026 16:19
The dealer says he didn't sell to anyone but Hazuki, yet Yano and Maekawa both had their homes searched.
Police wouldn't move without some basis, so what's actually going on here?
39AnonymousSep 17, 2026 16:26
Re: #32
If your name comes up, of course they'll search you.
43AnonymousSep 17, 2026 16:29
Still no announcement on any punishment for Kikuchi.
57AnonymousSep 17, 2026 16:53
Re: #43
Disciplining someone based on just one side's story is a great way to manufacture a wrongful accusation.
I'm not saying Kikuchi's innocent, either.
Right now it's only the other party's claim, that's all.
72AnonymousSep 17, 2026 17:12
Re: #43
Well then the police would have to act on it.
Why not file a police report?
73AnonymousSep 17, 2026 17:13
Re: #43
There's no proof of anything though.
45AnonymousSep 17, 2026 16:30
Chugoku Shimbun: "Oh please, it'll actually build up your immunity." (echoing a dark meme about waving off harm)
Hiroshima TV: "If it's just once, maybe it was a stray shot." (riffing on the classic doping-excuse meme)
50AnonymousSep 17, 2026 16:39
Re: #45
This is way past the point where you can wave it off as a "stray shot."
58AnonymousSep 17, 2026 16:54
Whatever happened to that SoftBank guy who broke in and got violent?
61AnonymousSep 17, 2026 16:57
Re: #58
He's not even active anymore, how would I know?
66AnonymousSep 17, 2026 17:05
Re: #58
Sounds like he's under investigation for assault.
68AnonymousSep 17, 2026 17:09
The dealer clearly has no intention of confessing to selling to anyone besides Hazuki, so there's no way to ever know for sure.
Are they just going to let it fade into ambiguity until things blow over?
71AnonymousSep 17, 2026 17:11
Re: #68

He's staying silent so he can sell his story to the media for cash once he's out (of prison).
Talking to the police doesn't earn him a single yen, after all lol
75AnonymousSep 17, 2026 17:17
[There were Carp players around him who were also smoking it] Former Carp player Ryutaro Hazuki used "zombie cigarettes" — urine tests conducted on multiple players [Ailuropoda melanoleuca★]

https://itest.5ch.io/hayabusa9/test/read.cgi/mnewsplus/1779166338


There are probably still plenty of other players who haven't been caught yet lol

They should be investigating not just the players but the staff, sponsor companies, and everyone else involved too.
83AnonymousSep 17, 2026 17:25
Re: #75
When exactly was he "smoking" it?
That phrasing is sneaky —
if it was before the drug got regulated, there's no problem at all.
76AnonymousSep 17, 2026 17:19
Obviously just fire him lol

Background and Points of Debate

Etomidate is a designated drug under Japan’s Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Act, meaning that simply possessing or transferring it is itself a punishable offense. It’s worth noting that the person found guilty this time, defendant Takiguchi, was convicted of providing the drug — Hazuki’s own case and any discipline for other players have not been finalized. On the thread, opinions split over the grounds for the home searches of Yano and Maekawa, and how to treat the unconfirmed allegations swirling around Kikuchi. There was particular tension between a cautious camp warning that “disciplining someone based on only one side’s account invites wrongful accusations” and those calling for a swift resolution now that suspicion has surfaced. Since the club’s statements have stuck to describing the investigation’s progress without spelling out disciplinary plans for individual players, readers should be careful not to conflate this speculation with the unrelated scandals at other teams that got brought up for comparison.

*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports Sokuhou+) thread “[Baseball] Hiroshima Carp Acting Owner Matsuda on Police Investigation into “Zombie Cigarettes”: “No Conclusion Yet on Yano and Maekawa” — Both Still Training with Third Team.”

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