A member of the Royal Canadian Navy charged in Japan with a drug offence is the son of a high-ranking military official, CTV News has learned.
Ian Greenwood, a member of HMCS Winnipeg’s crew and son of retired Rear Admiral Richard Greenwood, has been charged with drug use following a drug test and he remains in Japanese custody.
A civilian fitness instructor was also charged with drug use.
None of the charges have been proven in court.
Rear Admiral Gilles Couturier, commander of Maritime Forces Pacific, called the allegations troubling.
“This will be an excellent example to show all military members and those in the Royal Canadian Navy that this kind of behaviour and substance abuse will not be tolerated,” he said.
The charges follow a port visit to Tokyo by HMCS Winnipeg, a Halifax-class frigate with a crew of about 250 personnel.
Canada does not have a military-to-military prisoner exchange agreement with Japan.
The federal government is providing consular assistance.
With a report from CTV’s Mercedes Stephenson
