Man jailed for smuggling drug with international parcels

By Park Si-soo

A man was jailed for smuggling drugs from Australia using international parcels.

The Daejeon District Court said Wednesday it had sentenced the smuggler to two and a half years in prison for violating laws on narcotics or psychotropic drugs.

He was charged with illegally importing a “significant amount” of the drug on eight occasions between February and April from a drug dealer in Australia who he got to know through a smartphone app. The dealer sent the drugs hidden in snack/ramen packets or envelopes to Korea using international parcels.

“The amount of drug he smuggled in was huge, so he deserves a heavy punishment,” wrote Judge Sohn Hyun-chan in a ruling statement. “But the ruling was made after taking into account the facts that only a small portion of the smuggled drug was circulated and he committed the crime to make money for living.”