W4 Bil. Intl Drug Ring Busted; 10 Arrested, 8 at Large
Police have uncovered an international drug smuggling ring of 18 Koreans and Taiwanese living in Korea, which allegedly brought heroin into Korea worth 4 billion won using couriers who swallowed packets in order to elude customs officials.
According to officials at the Seoul and Incheon Metropolitan Police Agencies, Sunday, a Taiwanese man, identified as 51-year-old Wang, and nine others were arrested on suspicions of smuggling and selling a large quantity of heroin, which was harvested in Thailand and Cambodia.
Police decided to put in abeyance the indictments for eight other accomplices, who are still at large, a step taken to prevent the passage of the statute of limitations.
Included in those arrested are two Koreans, one identified as 25-year-old Park, who was hired as a courier.
The eight still at large includes two Koreans.
The police said that Wang smuggled a total of 1.3 kilograms of heroin into Taiwan in March. He is suspected of having smuggled a total of 4.9 kilograms of heroin into Taiwan and Korea.
Wang has allegedly recruited couriers, each paid 800,000 won to 3.2 million won, to swallow packets of heroin, primarily in condoms, before taking flights to Korea and Taiwan.
Out of the 4.9 kilos, 1.2 kilos were confiscated by immigrations officers at Incheon International Airport together with three Taiwanese couriers.
Police say that the 4.9 kilos are worth 4.2 billion won in street value, with the amount of dope being large enough to give one dose to 170,000 users.
One of the Korean couriers, identified as Yoon, went into a coma when two bags of heroin ruptured inside his stomach last October. He was arrested by the police, after being alerted by the doctor who was treating him.
Another Korean, Kim, who was supposed to carry 490 grams inside his stomach, went missing in Thailand.
Police said that the members of the uncovered drug ring were divided into suppliers, sellers and couriers, operating as a team in Cambodia, Thailand and Taiwan before police surveillance was strengthened. They then decided to include Korea as a stopover.
"The arrested Taiwanese can be punished by Korean law," a police officer said. "We are planning to strengthen our cooperation with law enforcement agencies of other countries to interdict dope smuggling operations in the region."
Korea has been emerging as part of a key transit route for drug smuggling.
Customs officials and police attribute it to increased police efforts in other countries.
They also say that the methods of smuggling have become more sophisticated, making detection harder.