By Yi Whan-woo
The prosecution indicted the boss of a Taiwan-based gang on charges of smuggling narcotics into Korea since June 2009, Sunday.
The 47-year-old boss, whose name was withheld, allegedly sold a total of 200 grams of methamphetamine to two Korean gang members in Taipei. The Taiwanese helped the two, a married couple, smuggle the drugs into Korea and sell them to a number of people, including college students and office workers.
The couple was also indicted after being apprehended by police. Prosecutors will seek a seven-year jail term for each of them.
Investigators said the boss speaks Korean fluently because he spent his youth here.
“We suspect that he has more connections with other Korean distributors, and that’s what we’re trying to find out,” an investigator said.
The prosecution said his gang is affiliated with a bigger criminal organization that has about 300 members.
Narcotics smuggling from Taiwan and other Southeast Asian countries has been increasing over the past few years, according to investigators.
“Methamphetamine was mostly brought in from China in the past, but routes have expanded to other countries. We are working closely with the customs office and the National Intelligence Service to look into crime rings in Korea,” the official said.