Ex-exec Hamp arrested in 2015 on drug offence returns to Toyota

TOKYO (Reuters) - Julie Hamp, a former Toyota Motor Corp executive who was arrested and then released in Japan in 2015 over the suspected illegal importation of the painkiller oxycodone, has returned to the company, it said on Thursday.

The American, who was the automaker's first female managing officer, has been appointed to a senior media adviser for Toyota Motor North America as of June 20, a Toyota spokesperson said.

She will assist media relations and ESG response in addition to supporting the automaker's president, Akio Toyoda.

Toyota does not see Hamp's appointment as a problem since she was not indicted, the spokesperson said.

Hamp, a former General Motors Co and PepsiCo Inc executive, assumed the title of managing officer and chief communications officer in April 2015.