Roundup: Ex-Toyota female executive to be released without charge over drug import

Prosecutors in Tokyo will release Julie Hamp, who resigned as a Toyota executive following her arrest last month for allegedly illegally importing a restricted narcotic painkiller into Japan, Kyodo News said on Tuesday.

Citing investigative sources, Hamp, Toyota Motor Corp.'s first female executive, will be released without charge on Wednesday at the end of her period of detention as it was deemed that the American's actions were "not malicious" and she has already resigned from her post at Toyota.

Hamp, 55, has been held by Tokyo police since her June 18 arrest on suspicion that she imported the opiate-based pain medication oxycodone, which Japan designates as a narcotic that requires advance permission from the health and welfare ministry to bring it into the country.

Prosecutors took into account appeals from Hamp and her family in Kentucky, where 57 oxycodone pills were mailed from, claiming that the mediation was sent to her to alleviate pain from a knee complaint.

The pills were found by Japanese custom officials at Narita airport on June 11, at the bottom of a small package marked " necklaces," police and customs officials confirmed.

The pills were placed in the bottom of the box listed as containing a necklace, with some of the pills inside an accessory case. Police investigators said that along with the concealed pills, the parcel also contained toy pendants and necklaces.

Hamp, who became global head of communications for Toyota in April, after joining the company in June 2012 from PepsiCo Inc., where she was a senior vice president, had her resignation accepted by the company less than two weeks after its President Akio Toyoda had told a press conference that Hamp had not intentionally broken Japanese law, vouching for her professional and ethical character.

Sources close to the matter said she was, however, aware that the drug was regulated in Japan, but did not consider the drug to be illegal and had a legitimate knee complaint that warranted the strong painkiller.

A spokeswoman for the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office declined to comment on the statement. However, after her arrest a medical check confirmed that Hamp was suffering from knee inflammation, sources close to the matter said.

The drug, known to be highly addictive and often abused for recreation reasons, requires a medical certificate from a doctor to be submitted to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare for approval, before it can be sent to Japan. Without such, it is illegal to import the drug into Japan.

Despite her imminent release, the news has been a blow to Toyota which has been pushing for more diversity in its higher echelons, particularly more females in executive positions. Endi