By Kim Rahn
A Korean high school girl has been arrested in Kenya on suspicion of drug trafficking, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Sunday.
The ministry said a 19-year-old student, surnamed Kim, who was visiting the African country for a short-term interpretation experience, was apprehended by the local police near Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi last Tuesday for carrying drugs.
Korean officials and her family suspect she might have been used by a local drug trafficker.
It was reported that 3.4 kilograms of methamphetamine was found in the wooden dolls she was carrying in her bag.
“Kim said she received the dolls and the bag from a worker of a local company where she worked, saying he asked her to take them to Seoul. After being tipped off about the drug transfer, the Kenyan drug squad was waiting along the road to the airport and searched the car she was riding in,” a ministry official said.
She is currently in a detention center.
A third grader at a girls’ high school in Seoul, Kim was in Kenya for about a week for a short-term interpretation experience during summer vacation, according to the ministry.
“A Korean consul there visited her and confirmed her health was okay. We are trying to prove her innocence, telling the Kenyan authorities that she is only a student and was there to gain work experience before applying to attend a U.S. college,” the official said.
Kim’s family left for Kenya on Saturday after the ministry urgently issued passports for them. The ministry is helping them hire a local lawyer.
South Korean Ambassador to Kenya Kim Chan-woo said a probation officer there will interview the girl on Monday and will decide whether to release her on bail on Tuesday. Even if she is allowed to post bail, she may not be allowed to leave the country because she was already indicted.
The ministry noted on its website that it is seeing a growing number similar cases where South Koreans going abroad for touring or to study were being arrested by local police for transporting drugs in bags or other items which they were asked to deliver to Korea or a third country.
In May, a Korean tourist to Vancouver was arrested at Vancouver International Airport on his way back to Korea as drugs were found in a piece of luggage that belonged to him.
The 28-year-old said during his trip he met a Korean-Canadian whom he had known for a while, and was asked to deliver the bag to a friend in Japan. As he planned to return home via Japan, he agreed.
“Recently, there are cases of members of foreign drug rings in Korea asking Korean nationals to deliver drugs or items in which drugs are hidden, to specific countries, offering free overseas travel in return,” the ministry said on the website.
It said some Koreans have been imprisoned in foreign countries for years after they were caught for drug trafficking.
“People are advised to refuse to carry a stranger’s things for delivery. Even if someone they know asks for such a favor, they still need to be cautious,” it said.