Police Raid Airport and Port Logistics Warehouses... Seize 2.79 Million KF94 Masks and More

Special Inspection of 2,079 Large Logistics Warehouses Nationwide Starting from the 4th
7 Cases of Mask Storage Detected, 33 People Arrested
Secured Supplies Distributed through Public Sales Channels and Others

Masks stored in the Incheon Airport logistics warehouse seized by the police. / Photo by the National Police Agency

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] Amid the 'mask crisis' caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the police successfully secured 2.79 million masks by inspecting logistics warehouses at airports and ports nationwide.

The National Police Agency announced on the 17th that, in cooperation with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the Korea Customs Service, it conducted special inspections of 2,079 airports, ports, and large logistics warehouses starting from the 4th of this month.

Through this special inspection, the police uncovered seven cases of masks stored in warehouses for the purpose of hoarding and arrested 33 people. The 2.79 million masks secured during this process were promptly distributed through official sales channels.

For example, the Intelligent Crime Investigation Unit of the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency on the 11th uncovered two sales companies storing 1.04 million masks at Incheon Airport logistics warehouses for profiteering purposes and confirmed hoarding charges. The Metropolitan Investigation Unit of the Gyeonggi Nambu Police also uncovered 16 companies storing 950,000 masks at logistics warehouses near Incheon Airport on the 5th of this month.

At a logistics warehouse in Pyeongtaek Port, one company storing 150,000 masks was caught by the police, and in the case of 50,000 masks stored at Incheon Airport logistics warehouses without export approval from the Korea Customs Service, joint inspections with local governments ensured that all masks were distributed to the market.

The police had previously uncovered cases where sellers, blocked from exporting masks after the government announced export restrictions on the 26th of last month, stored large quantities of masks in airport warehouses. At the initial crackdown, there were as many as 3.67 million masks stored in warehouses within the Incheon Airport logistics complex. Based on this, the police launched this special inspection, anticipating more such cases.

Additionally, since the 28th of last month, the police have deployed 1,254 personnel across 273 police stations nationwide to operate special crackdown teams to secure mask distribution order. Up to the previous day, they uncovered a total of 168 cases of mask hoarding and arrested 352 people, recovering 12.42 million masks.

A National Police Agency official stated, "We will focus our policing capabilities not only on judging hoarding charges against mask storage companies but also on cooperating organically with related agencies to ensure masks are quickly distributed to the public," and added, "We ask for active reporting and cooperation regarding distribution order disruption acts such as mask hoarding."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.