Japan Customs Official Has Very Unfortunate Night Out

After drinking 9 beers, he lost bag containing sensitive documents
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 11, 2025 4:15 PM CST
Japan Official Drinks 9 Beers, Loses Sensitive Files
A street of bars in Yokohama.   (Getty Images/nukopic)

A government worker in Japan is in big trouble after a big night out with colleagues. Officials say the finance ministry worker drank nine glasses of beers over five hours in Yokohama last Thursday—and didn't realize until he got off a train in Sumida, 25 miles away, that he had lost a bag containing sensitive files, the BBC reports. Officials say the man's bag contained documents with the details of 187 people, including suspected drug smugglers and recipients of cannabis seeds.

The employee, who was assigned to the customs and tariff bureau, also lost work laptops, officials say. The incident "significantly undermined public trust in us, and we're deeply sorry," the finance ministry said. The ministry said the employee would be severely punished. (In 2022, a worker who drank too much and fell asleep outside a restaurant lost the details of an entire Japanese city's residents.)

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