Japan Demands US Military Crackdown After Okinawa DUI Arrest
(MENAFN) Japan on Monday pressed the US military to tighten discipline among its troops after a Marine was detained on suspicion of drunken driving in Okinawa, in defiance of a curfew imposed after another serviceman was accused of murdering a local woman, a national news agency reported.
Kalvin Montoya Cardona was taken into custody Saturday after police stopped him driving with a blood-alcohol level double the legal limit, local authorities said. The stop took place at about 12.25 am local time (1525GMT Friday) in Okinawa city.
The arrest fell within a 30-day curfew placed on US military personnel on Oct. 9. That order followed the arrest five days earlier of Marine Devin Ballard, who has since been indicted on charges of robbing and murdering a woman in Naha, the Okinawa capital.
Under the restrictions, US service members may not go out between midnight and 5 am during what authorities have designated a “period of reflection.”
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said Tokyo had asked Washington to enforce the measures strictly and to put effective safeguards in place against further incidents.
Koizumi called on the US military to “take seriously” the latest arrest, adding that the two governments were weighing preventive steps in high-level consultations launched after the Ballard case.
“We want to reach conclusions as early as possible, announce the measures and put them into practice,” he said.
Kalvin Montoya Cardona was taken into custody Saturday after police stopped him driving with a blood-alcohol level double the legal limit, local authorities said. The stop took place at about 12.25 am local time (1525GMT Friday) in Okinawa city.
The arrest fell within a 30-day curfew placed on US military personnel on Oct. 9. That order followed the arrest five days earlier of Marine Devin Ballard, who has since been indicted on charges of robbing and murdering a woman in Naha, the Okinawa capital.
Under the restrictions, US service members may not go out between midnight and 5 am during what authorities have designated a “period of reflection.”
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said Tokyo had asked Washington to enforce the measures strictly and to put effective safeguards in place against further incidents.
Koizumi called on the US military to “take seriously” the latest arrest, adding that the two governments were weighing preventive steps in high-level consultations launched after the Ballard case.
“We want to reach conclusions as early as possible, announce the measures and put them into practice,” he said.
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