U.S. Air Force Captain arrested in Okinawa for drunk driving, just one week after the U.S. and Japan agreed on measures to prevent U.S. military crimes

(Central News Agency, Okinawa, comprehensive foreign news report on the 14th) In the early morning of the 14th, a 27-year-old U.S. Air Force captain stationed at Kadena Base in Okinawa, Japan, was suspected of drunk driving in Okinawa City and was arrested by the police as an active offender. The case adds another twist to the tense relationship between Pacific allies the United States and Japan.

Ryukyu Asahi Broadcasting (QAB), Kyodo News, and AFP reported that the police said that the man drove drunk on Prefectural Road No. 85 in Moromisato, Okinawa City at around 3 a.m. on the 14th. The police saw a car speeding up after seeing the patrol car and felt suspicious, so they asked the driver to stop for questioning. They smelled the smell of alcohol on him. After a breathalyzer test, they found that his breath alcohol concentration was about three times the standard value, and he was arrested on the spot.

According to Ryukyu Asahi Broadcasting, he partially denied involvement in the case when facing police investigation, saying: "I think the alcohol remaining in my body is below the standard value, and my home is nearby, so I think there is no problem in driving."

The U.S. and Japanese governments only agreed a week ago to take measures to prevent U.S. military personnel stationed in Japan from committing crimes in Okinawa. A previous murder case involving a U.S. Marine in Okinawa aroused strong dissatisfaction among the local people.

U.S. officials also said last week that they would extend the curfew for low-level service members until December 7 and prohibit all service members from drinking alcohol outside their residences between midnight and 5 a.m. A spokesman for the Okinawa Prefectural Police Headquarters told AFP that it was unclear whether he violated the curfew imposed by the United States.

There are currently about 54,000 U.S. military personnel stationed in Japan, most of them concentrated in Okinawa. Criminal cases involving U.S. military personnel have long been a thorny issue between the United States and Japan, close security allies.