Article published on October 8th, 1984 by the Burlington North Carolina Times-News.

HEADLINE: BLACKMAILERS IN JAPAN USING POISONED CANDY

TOKYO (AP)- Blackmailers calling themselves the "21-faced monster" today placed at least two boxes of cyanide-laced chocolate candy in supermarkets in western Japan, police said. More than 2,000 policemen were investigating the case in the western cities of Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto, and the Kyodo news service said a nationwide alert had been declared.

A spokesman for the Osaka state police said officers detected 0.2 grams of sodium cyanide, a potentially lethal dose, in a box of chocolates made by Morinaga and Co., a major Japanese confectionery company.

The box was found in a suburban Osaka supermarket with the message: "Danger, contains poison. You'll die if you eat this. The 21-faced Monster." The box was reported to police by a store em- ployee, the spokesman said.

Later in the day, police detected 0.23 grams of sodium cyanide in another box of Morinaga candy found with in Kyoto with a similar note, a Kyoto police spokesman said. There were unconfirmed re- ports that other three boxes with the same message had been in stores in and around Osaka.

It was the first time that the group, which is believed responsible for similar blackmail attempts against candymakers this year, has carried out its threat to plant poisoned candy on store shelves. The group takes its name from the villain in a popular mystery series of the early 20th century.

After the first box of poisoned candy was discovered, top officials of the National Police Agency met in Tokyo and issued a nationwide alert, while Morinaga executives ordered 800 employees to set up store patrols and keep watch over the shelves, the newspaper Asahi Shimbun and the Kyodo News Service reported.

Kyodo said at least two chains of supermarkets, one in Sapporo in northern Japan and one in Hiroshima, began removing Morinaga products from their shelves.Morinaga stocks dropped the equiva- lent of 22 cents on the Tokyo Stock Exchange at the day's close.

In a letter delivered to major Japanese newspapers this morning, the blackmailers said that over the weekend they had placed in supermarkets in central and western Japan 20 boxes of Morinaga candy products laced with at least 0.2 grams of cyanide each and inscribed with a written warning that the candies contain poison.

The letter said 30 more boxes would be planted in the next 10 days without the written warning.

The letter did not include any demands, but the group on Sept. 12 demanded the equivalent of $400,000 from Morinaga in return for not poisoning its products.

Police believe the same group was responsible for kidnapping the president of Ezaki Glico Co., another major confectionery maker, last March and demanding $4 million in ransom.

Although the Glico president escaped unharmed, the group con- tinued to send letters to mass media and to Glico until late June, threatening to place cyanide-laced Glico products in stores throughout Japan.

Glico's sales declined as thousands of stores around Japan took Glico products off their shelves. Despite the threats, no poisoned packages were found, and the "21-faced Monster," in another letter, called off the threat against Glico because they were "bored."