Western Australia grandmother and prominent Indigenous leader, Donna Nelson, has been charged with importing almost two kilograms of an illegal stimulant into Japan.
Nelson’s family claim she is the victim of a romance scammer, who enticed her to go on the international trip by a man she met on a dating app and do not believe she would have knowingly been involved in drug trafficking.
According to an indictment filed to the Chiba prefecture district court, Nelson, who ran for the Greens in the 2022 federal election, took a suitcase containing approximately 1.9 kilograms of stimulants onboard a plane at Laos International Airport on January 3, the ABC reports.
She then reportedly transited through Vietnam and took the suitcase on another plane travelling to Japan, before she was discovered by customs officials in Narita Airport, outside Tokyo in the Chiba prefecture.
Japanese authorities have not released details of exactly what drug Nelson was allegedly caught carrying.
A WA Indigenous leader claims she’s the victim of a love scam that’s left her locked in a prison cell in Japan.
Donna Nelson’s family says she unknowingly smuggled drugs into the country under instruction from her online lover.#9News @GenoveseMichael pic.twitter.com/lz5Ou8GC2g
— 9News Perth (@9NewsPerth) January 25, 2023
Her family told the ABC, they were told by Nelson’s lawyer that she was approached by a person claiming to be a business associate of the man she was travelling to meet and was asked to take the luggage to Japan.
She has been charged with the violation of the Stimulants Control Law and Customs Law.
