Sakai re-emerged in the headlines for a drug scandal on August 2, 2009, when Sakai's husband, Yūichi Takasō allegedly inhaled a small amount of stimulant drugs in a public lavatory, at a park in Tokyo's Minato Ward. The next day, Takasō's car, parked on a street in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward, was searched. In the car, 0.817 grams of stimulant drugs were found. On August 4, 2009, Takasō was stopped by Tokyo Metropolitan Police while walking in public in Shibuya. When Takasō was subjected to a body search, stimulant drugs were reportedly found in his underwear. Takasō was immediately placed under arrest. Sakai was summoned to the scene of the arrest. She was asked to go to the police station for further questions and to submit to a urine test. Instead, she told the police she had to pick her 10-year-old son up, and that she would go to the police station later that day. Sakai later disappeared with her son.