On Apr. 21 at the Anyang mail distribution center in Gyeonggi. A suspicious object was detected in a parcel from the Netherlands as it passed through the X-ray scanner. Inside the box were a mug and two bags of coffee beans. They looked like ordinary coffee beans, but when the bags were opened, 5,137 light green pills spilled out. It was a new synthetic drug, "2C-B," known for strong hallucinogenic effects and abused in clubs.
On the 26th, the 40th International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking set by the United Nations (UN) arrived, but the volume of narcotics distributed domestically has hardly declined. The narcotics seized from January to April this year totaled 890 kilograms, far more than double the amount in the same period last year.
The problem is that after the Prosecution Service is abolished in October, responsibility and authority over "controlled delivery investigations," which track such drug smuggling cases, could become unclear. There are concerns that authorities may fail to block smuggling in its early stages or miss the golden time to catch domestic distributors.
◇ Record number of drug offenders from January to April… Smuggling busts also surge
According to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's monthly narcotics trends, the cumulative number of drug offenders caught from January to April this year was 7,178. That is a record high. The figure rose 11.0% from 6,469 in the same period last year. Compared with 938 from January to April 2016, it more than septupled.
In particular, the increase in drug smuggling offenders stands out. The cumulative number caught for drug smuggling from January to April this year was 626, which is 3.5 times the 178 in the same period in 2017. During the same period, the share of smugglers among all drug offenders grew from 4.0% to 8.7%.
Seizure volumes also surged. Supreme Prosecutors' Office statistics show that from January to April this year, 890.2 kilograms of narcotics were seized, up 159.3% from 343.3 kilograms in the same period last year. A prosecution official said, "Most of the narcotics distributed domestically rely overwhelmingly on overseas smuggling rather than domestic manufacture," adding, "Only by blocking them at the smuggling stage can we see real effects in combating narcotics."
◇ After customs seizures, disguise it as actual delivery to arrest pick-up couriers
Alarmed, the government introduced the so-called "second drug inspection line of defense" in December last year. It is a system to re-screen and block smuggled narcotics that were not detected at airports and seaports at mail distribution centers and elsewhere. Customs inspection stations are now installed at five major mail distribution centers and metropolitan mail logistics centers nationwide.
Narcotics seized by customs do not stop at simple confiscation and can lead to arrests of pick-up couriers and distributors. This is the so-called "controlled delivery investigation." In a controlled delivery investigation, when narcotics are detected by customs, they are not seized immediately but are disguised as if actually being delivered, and pick-up couriers and distributors are arrested on the spot.
The 2C-B smuggling case uncovered at the Anyang mail distribution center in April also led to a controlled delivery investigation, allowing authorities to catch the pick-up courier. The Government Joint Investigation Headquarters on Drug Crimes treated the parcel seized by customs as if it were being sent to the actual delivery address and conducted a stakeout, and last month arrested pick-up courier A at the scene. A was indicted on the 5th.
◇ Concerns over authority gap for "controlled delivery" after the Prosecution Service is abolished
The problem is that if the Prosecution Service is abolished in October, controlled delivery investigations could become more complex than they are now. The current "Special Act on the Prevention of Illegal Trafficking of Narcotics" designates prosecutors as entities that can request customs to release suspected narcotics for removal. Through a memorandum of understanding (MOU), the prosecution and the Korea Customs Service allowed prosecutors to directly investigate major narcotics cases with smuggling values of 5 million won or more. This has enabled a single flow from customs detection to the prosecution's swift warrant request to controlled delivery investigations.
However, if the Prosecution Service is abolished and prosecutors lose their direct investigative authority and their command over special judicial police officers, the prosecution will withdraw from drug smuggling investigations. After that, the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency and the Korea Customs Service's special judicial police officers will take over, but the two agencies have different investigative powers. Investigators at the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency can investigate both smuggling and distribution crimes among narcotics offenses, but customs special judicial police officers have investigative authority only for smuggling crimes.
Now there is a single flow of customs detection, prosecution warrant requests, and controlled delivery investigations, but after the Prosecution Service is abolished, the agency that "has secured the narcotics" and the agency that will "track the distribution network" could be split.
For example, if the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency receives narcotics secured by the Korea Customs Service for a controlled delivery investigation and uses them to pursue the distribution network, a separate search and seizure warrant may be required. This is because customs secured the narcotics on the premise of investigating smuggling crimes. In that case, an investigator at the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency must apply for a warrant, and a prosecutor at the Office of Public Prosecution must review the records and request a warrant from the court. After the court's warrant review and issuance procedures, the investigation would inevitably be delayed.
◇ "If they notice delivery delays, they vanish immediately"… Urgent need to improve the system
In controlled delivery investigations, delivery delays are fatal. If delivery is delayed or investigative movement becomes apparent, the pick-up courier can notice and disappear.
A prosecution official said, "Recently, overseas drug rings have sometimes inserted location trackers like AirTags into mail to check delivery routes in real time," adding, "Even a one-day mail delay can make a pick-up courier suspect investigative movement and flee."
Experts note that with only three months left until the Prosecution Service is abolished, institutional improvements are urgently needed. Lee Sung-il, a Konkuk University law school professor and former deputy chief prosecutor with experience in controlled delivery investigations, said, "If not only prosecutors' direct investigative authority but also their command over special judicial police officers disappears, the prosecutor's authority under the Narcotics Trafficking Prevention Act to request the release of items to initiate controlled delivery investigations must also be revised," adding, "We need to grant the authority to request release to the head of special judicial police officers within the Korea Customs Service to align responsibility and authority for controlled delivery investigations."
There is also an opinion that a separate agency like a "drug administration" is needed. Given the sharp rise in drug offenders, an agency dedicated to collecting intelligence and investigating narcotics distribution and smuggling, like the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) or Thailand's Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB), is necessary. Minister Jung Sung-ho of the Ministry of Justice has also expressed on several occasions that establishing a drug administration is needed.