Roppongi may have a significant drug trafficking problem, and you can probably find other such areas with similar problems (Shinjuku or Shibuya, perhaps?) but I

Roppongi may have a significant drug trafficking problem, and you can probably find other such areas with similar problems (Shinjuku or Shibuya, perhaps?) but I think that for the most part these areas are the exception rather than the rule. There are many parts of Japan without the same drug problems. I should have said, "prosecutors move forward with a case" rather than, "police move forward with an investigation." The idea is that Japan has a lower prosecution rate than the US, due to a limited number of prosecutors and limited resources. I suspect that the difference in conviction rate arises from a variety of factors, including both lower prosecution rate and coercion. [0] http://kelley.iu.edu/riharbau/RePEc/iuk/wpaper/bepp2008-16-rasmusen-raghav-ramseyer.pdf http://kelley.iu.edu/riharbau/RePEc/iuk/wpaper/bepp2008-16-r...