A ringleader who smuggled a large quantity of drugs was extradited to Korea and handed over to prosecutors after 18 years on the run overseas.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Narcotics Crime Investigation Unit of the Violent Crime Investigation Division said on the 21st it sent a man in his 60s, identified as A, to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office under arrest on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Crimes (psychotropic substances).
A is accused of smuggling a total of 1.6 kilograms of methamphetamine from Manila International Airport in the Philippines to Incheon International Airport on three occasions between Oct. 2015 and Jan. 2016 via a backpack carried by courier B. The 1.6 kilograms of methamphetamine are worth about 5.3 billion won on the street, enough for about 53,000 single uses.
A became embroiled in another drug case in Oct. 2008 and lived as a fugitive for 18 years, moving between China and the Philippines. On the 8th of last month, A was caught for illegal stay by the Dandong Public Security Bureau in China and was forcibly deported to Korea on the 13th.
Working with the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea, police arrested A when A entered through the Incheon Port International Passenger Terminal on the 14th and sought an arrest warrant. The Seoul Central District Court issued the warrant on the 16th, citing flight risk.
B, who transported methamphetamine in the Philippines under A's orders, was caught at Incheon Airport in Jan. 2016 and was sentenced to prison.
A police official said, "We will continue to respond sternly to drug crimes that transcend borders by working closely with domestic and international partner agencies."