Three people who smuggled drugs and fled overseas were brought back to Korea and indicted. One drug offender was arrested by local police in Laos in cooperation with the National Intelligence Service and an investigator dispatched to the country.
The government joint drug crime investigation headquarters (Deputy Minister Kim Bong-hyeon) said it had brought three drug smugglers back to Korea from April to this month, indicted them in custody, and, in Laos, arrested one ringleader who had fled overseas. They are upper-level handlers (ringleaders) who fled abroad after a lower-level courier was caught by customs.
The National Intelligence Service provided the joint headquarters with information on methamphetamine smuggling in February this year. Based on this information, the joint headquarters identified an accomplice of A, 40. The accomplice was arrested and indicted in custody on Apr. 5 after entering the country with 1.31 kilograms of methamphetamine worth 131 million won. The joint headquarters then obtained an arrest warrant for A and requested a red notice from Interpol.
An investigator dispatched to Thailand worked with the National Intelligence Service, Thai local police, and others to locate A's hideout and arrested A on the 6th of last month. A was forcibly deported from Thailand on the 13th of this month, and the joint headquarters executed the arrest warrant on a national flag carrier.
In March this year, the joint headquarters arrested and indicted in custody the person who received 4.48 kilograms of methamphetamine that customs had seized. The joint headquarters identified B, 47, the upper-level handler for this recipient, obtained an arrest warrant, and requested a red notice from Interpol. The joint headquarters, the National Intelligence Service, and an investigator dispatched to Laos, working with local police, arrested B on the 9th of last month and seized 1 kilogram of heroin found in the home.
C, 22, a Vietnamese national, brought into Korea from the United Kingdom 247 MDMA (ecstasy) tablets and 129 grams of ketamine, among other drugs worth about 34 million won, in June and August last year. The Suwon District Prosecutors' Office arrested and indicted an accomplice in custody and, based on the accomplice's statement, identified C and requested a red notice from Interpol. Dutch investigators arrested C in April this year and handed the case to the joint headquarters. The joint headquarters indicted C in custody in May.
D, 37, a Korean American, had been the subject of a red notice from Interpol after customs seized cocaine and MDMA in 2019. French investigators arrested D in June last year, and in May this year the joint headquarters took custody of D in France and executed an arrest warrant. The joint headquarters indicted D in custody last month.
A joint headquarters official said, "Thanks to the combined capabilities of related agencies such as the prosecution, police, the National Intelligence Service, and the Korea Customs Service, and the accumulation and analysis of consolidated information, we were able, nine months after launch, to identify the personal details of drug ringleaders who had been hiding overseas beyond the reach of investigations."
The official added, "Going forward, even under a changing criminal justice system, we will actively seek ways to preserve and develop the capabilities built by the joint headquarters, root out drug ringleaders operating overseas, and block drug inflows into the country at the source."