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Ex-MLB, KBO player Navarro arrested in Japan for carrying bullet

February 22, 2016
Yamaico Navarro played for the Samsung Lions for the past two years. (Yonhap faile)

Yamaico Navarro played for the Samsung Lions for the past two years. (Yonhap faile)

Former Major League Baseball player Yamaico Navarro, who put up superstar numbers for the Samsung Lions in South Korea for the past two years, has been arrested in Japan for concealing a bullet in his luggage.

Navarro was arrested in Okinawa on Sunday evening, national broadcaster NHK reported. The 28-year-old Navarro told police the bullet was from his home in the Dominican Republic but that he wasn’t aware it was in his bag.

NHK reported that the bullet was discovered in his shoulder bag during a security check for a domestic flight at Okinawa’s airport, a violation of Japan’s firearms law.
Navarro, who played for several MLB teams including the Boston Red Sox, had been participating in a training camp for the Japanese team Lotte Marines in Okinawa, after failing to reach an agreement with Samsung.
Navarro is a career .206 hitter in the majors, but  hit 79 home runs, drove in 235 runs with a .296 batting average over two years in the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO).  He also walked 189 times in route to scoring 244 runs and stole 47 bases.
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*AP materials were used in this article.