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
That's because it's yesterday's article
What's even fun about cheering for a team like this?
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 😅
Re: #15
The second team already plays at some secluded ballpark deep in the mountains, so where would the third team even play lol
> 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.
I thought only the Giants and Hawks had one.
Hiroshima's third team is where injured guys go to recover.
Didn't Seibu have one too?
Hurry up and finish the investigation so he can come back.
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.
Police wouldn't move without some basis, so what's actually going on here?
If your name comes up, of course they'll search you.
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.
Well then the police would have to act on it.
Why not file a police report?
There's no proof of anything though.
Hiroshima TV: "If it's just once, maybe it was a stray shot." (riffing on the classic doping-excuse meme)
This is way past the point where you can wave it off as a "stray shot."
He's not even active anymore, how would I know?
Sounds like he's under investigation for assault.
Are they just going to let it fade into ambiguity until things blow over?
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
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.
When exactly was he "smoking" it?
That phrasing is sneaky —
if it was before the drug got regulated, there's no problem at all.
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.”
