after a police officer noticed they were illegal opium poppies, an official said Wednesday. About 100 officials were mobilized in Shimotsuma City north of Tokyo to pluck and burn the one-hectare (2.47-acre) field of lilac-colored papaver setigerum poppies, according to the city official. The flowers were grown by volunteers using seeds imported from abroad, she said, adding that the city was checking how the seeds had got into the country. "A small number of them had been spotted since a few years ago but nobody ever realized they are a banned type. We are so surprised," she said.
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