The American playwright and Emily in Paris actor Jeremy O Harris has been released three weeks after his arrest in Japan on suspicion of drug smuggling while prosecutors investigate, police said Wednesday.
Japan has some of the world’s strictest drug laws, and possession of illegal narcotics can result in jail time. Prosecutors also have a very high conviction rate.
Known for his Tony-nominated Slave Play, Harris was detained at Naha airport on 16 November when customs officers allegedly found 0.78 grams (0.028 ounces) of a substance containing the stimulant MDMA in the 36-year-old’s carry-on tote bag.
“He was released on December 8 while we sent the case to the Naha District Public Prosecutors Office,” the Okinawa police official Tetsuya Shimoji said.
A spokesperson for the Tomishiro police station in Okinawa’s Tomigusuku City declined to say whether Harris had been charged when contacted by the New York Times on Tuesday. A spokesperson for the prosecutors office also declined to comment to AFP on the case.
It was unclear whether Harris was allowed to leave Japan while the probe continues. A representative for Harris told the New York Times that he had been released without charges, and that he would stay in Japan to write and research for an upcoming project.
Harris arrived in the southern Okinawa region on a flight from Taiwan, where he had a layover after flying from Britain, according to local broadcaster RBC.
He came to Japan for tourism, the broadcaster said.
Slave Play earned a record-breaking 12 Tony nominations in 2018, but did not win any awards.
Harris also serves as a co-producer of HBO’s popular series Euphoria.
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