By Chung Min-uck
Seoul will strengthen monitoring of international mail delivered to United States troops stationed here following a drug smuggling case involving an American soldier, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Friday.
Besides keeping a close watch on detecting illegal substances coming from abroad via air mail, the ministry will step up sharing information on drug-related issues with the Korean branches of the U.S. Criminal Investigation Division (CID) and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to prevent smuggling.
The ministry also said it plans to urge Washington to pay more attention to drug-related cases through diplomatic channels.
The decisions were made by the ministry after holding a working-level meeting with officials from the Justice Ministry, law enforcement agencies and the tax agency regarding the recent drug smuggling case involving the American soldier, said a foreign ministry official.
“Drug smuggling by U.S. troops stationed here have not increased compared to in the past, as far as I know,” said the official on condition of anonymity. “However, the latest trend is to smuggle new drugs such as Spice (synthetic marijuana) which are more popular than ordinary marijuana.”
The official also added that most of the smuggled drugs brought by U.S. soldiers are largely sold to fellow soldiers and foreign residents here.
On Thursday, prosecutors announced that they are investigating a U.S. Army private for smuggling 3,480 grams of Spice through international mail. The amount is allegedly enough for around 7,000 people to use and surpasses the amount of drugs seized by the Korea Customs Service over the last year (3,059 grams).
Prosecutors said they have secured an arrest warrant for the private and plan to put him in a Korean detention center after taking over custody of him from the U.S. Army stationed here.
The investigators also found out that illegally imported drugs have been sold to other U.S. soldiers and foreigners residing here.
Drug trafficking by U.S. soldiers here is not new.
In March, another U.S. Army private was arrested for smuggling about 800 grams of marijuana and other types of drugs into Korea. Also, a U.S. army corporal was caught importing illegal AM-2201, a synthetic cannabinoid, via international mail in January.