The driver of a van carrying dozens of Japan Post Co.'s parcels was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of embezzlement after going missing for almost a week with the vehicle in Kyoto, police said.

The arrested man was identified as Kazuki Shouno, 27. He had been unaccounted for ever since making off with the small van from a local post office in the western Japanese city on May 9, according to the police.

The police found the delivery vehicle around 1 p.m. Wednesday in a coin-operated parking lot in the city's Higashiyama Ward and discovered Shouno sleeping inside.

All of the undelivered Yu-Pack parcels were in the van, but tens of thousands of yen entrusted to him by Japan Post were gone, they said.

The driver belonged to an Osaka Prefecture-based contractor to Japan Post. The company contacted the police on Friday seeking help in locating him.