American playwright Jeremy O Harris arrested in Japan on drug smuggling charges

Playwright detained at Okinawa airport last month after customs officials allegedly found MDMA in his bag

File. Jeremy O Harris in Toronto (Getty)

American actor and playwright Jeremy O Harris, best known for Slave Play, was taken into custody last month for allegedly attempting to bring illegal drugs into Japan.

Harris, 36, was intercepted at the Naha airport in Okinawa on 16 November after a customs agent allegedly found 0.78 grams of a crystal substance containing MDMA inside his tote bag.

The Okinawa Regional Customs office said that this discovery led to the American’s immediate arrest under Japan’s Narcotics and Psychotropics Control Act.

Customs officials subsequently submitted a criminal complaint to local prosecutors, initiating formal charging procedures.

Police in Tomigusuku city in southern Okinawa confirmed that Harris was still being held, though they declined to say whether he had acknowledged the accusations.

Representatives for the playwright did not comment and it remained unknown if he had secured legal counsel in Japan.

Customs authorities said Harris had flown to Okinawa for sightseeing, arriving from the UK with a layover in Taiwan.

The prefecture, located about 1,500km southwest of Tokyo, is a well-known tourist destination famed for its beaches.

Japan enforces some of the strictest drug regulations among developed nations, where even minor quantities of banned substances can result in prosecution for possession or smuggling. While penalties are severe, they are generally less extreme than in places such as China or Singapore, where drug-related offences can carry the death penalty.

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In recent years, Japanese authorities have arrested several foreigners on drug charges, including former Australian rugby player Blake Ferguson in 2021 and Grammy-winning DJ David Morales in 2018. Morales was arrested after customs officers at the Fukuoka airport allegedly found 0.3 grams of MDMA in his luggage.

A notable case occurred much earlier, in 1980, when Paul McCartney was detained upon entering Tokyo with marijuana and subsequently barred from returning to the country for years.

Harris is an acclaimed playwright best known for Slave Play, the most Tony-nominated play in Broadway history. His work spans theatre, film and television. He co-wrote the award-winning film Zola and contributed to series such as Euphoria, Irma Vep and the upcoming adaptation of The Vanishing Half.

He holds an MFA in Playwriting from Yale.