Article published on November 11th, 1984.

HEADLINE: POLICE ALERT OVER SWEETS POISONING

Some 40,000 policemen were on alert at stores across the country over the weekend for the fifth straight week to prevent Glico-Morinaga extortionists from again planting poisoned sweets on store shelves.

The uniformed and plain-clothes men were assigned to track down the criminal group calling itself “The Man With 21 Faces,” which has tried to extort money from two major confectionery companies — Ezaki Glico and Morinaga.

Police said most officers were on weekend stakeout in the Kyoto-Osaka- Kobe region and in Nagoya and Tokyo, places where the extortionists have placed packets of sodium cyanide-laced Morinaga candy. In its latest letter to the mass media, the group said it would resume putting the tainted sweets on the shelves as soon as police stopped guarding stores.