Police Arrest Gang Smuggling 11 Billion Won Worth of Philopon in Southeast Asia

6 Out of 8 Detained
All Seized to Block Distribution

Philopon hidden inside canned food delivered through international express shipping. / Provided by Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency

[Asia Economy Reporters Seongpil Cho, Gyumin Oh] A drug gang attempting to smuggle a large quantity of methamphetamine from Southeast Asia and distribute it domestically has been arrested by the police.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Narcotics Crime Investigation Unit announced on the 26th that they arrested eight suspects, including Mr. B, on charges of violating the Narcotics Control Act, and detained six of them. The police issued arrest warrants and placed two others, including the gang leader Mr. A who fled overseas, on the wanted list. However, in Mr. A's case, he was sentenced to 22 years in prison for the same crime by a court in the country where he fled, and plans to repatriate him to Korea after serving his sentence.

According to the police, Mr. A and others are suspected of smuggling 3.54 kg of methamphetamine from Southeast Asia and attempting to distribute it domestically from 2020 until April this year. This amount is enough for approximately 118,000 simultaneous doses and is valued at about 11.08 billion KRW. During the arrest operation, the police seized all the smuggled methamphetamine and 454 million KRW in criminal proceeds. Additionally, 334 million KRW of the criminal proceeds were subjected to pre-indictment seizure measures upon court application.

Police investigations revealed that to evade customs surveillance, the suspects meticulously concealed methamphetamine inside canned goods in Southeast Asia and used international express mail for shipment. Notably, Mr. A was found to have directed the methamphetamine smuggling operation via SNS even while detained in a local prison. It was also discovered that Mr. A involved his daughter, Ms. J, in managing the criminal proceeds. The 334 million KRW subjected to pre-indictment seizure was reportedly found during a search of Ms. J’s residence.

A police official stated, "It is significant that we prevented the large-scale distribution of methamphetamine domestically in advance and secured enforcement power before indictment by applying pre-indictment seizure on 334 million KRW of criminal proceeds." He added, "The police will continue to strengthen cooperation with the Customs Service and focus investigative efforts on cracking down on narcotics smuggling and large-scale distribution offenders."

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