OSAKA -- A gang boss and six other people have been arrested for selling stimulants under the guise of a food stall set up along a road here, police said.

Makoto Nakanishi, 47, a senior member of a gang affiliated with the Yamaguchi-gumi crime syndicate, and six others stand accused of violating the Stimulants Control Law. Investigators have confiscated about 15 grams of the illegal drug from the fake stall.

They set up a fake stall along a municipal road in Nishinari-ku, Osaka, and hung up a banner saying, "Delicious Baked Sweet Potatoes," according to local police. They are accused of selling an average of 60 bags each containing 0.05 grams of stimulants -- worth about 300,000 yen -- a day.

Osaka police had been investigating the stall since February after being alerted by a local resident, who became suspicious because the stall never sold potatoes.

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