"Thought It Was Fertilizer" Industrial Waste Spread on Fields... 20 People Caught Illegally Dumping 20,000 Tons

Including Former Prosecutor Executives, Public Officials, and Local Council Members

Crops are withering and dying in a field where waste was spread after being deceived into thinking it was fertilizer.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Koo Dae-sun] The Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency announced on the 16th that they have arrested 20 individuals, including the CEO of a waste disposal company who illegally buried about 20,000 tons of business waste on farmland, affiliated organized crime members, former local council members, and public officials, on charges of violating the Waste Management Act. Among them, 5 were detained and 15 were booked without detention.

From March 2020 to last May, over a period of 2 years and 2 months, they received requests from 51 businesses to dispose of 190,000 tons of waste. Of this, they are accused of illegally disposing of 20,700 tons of industrial waste by deceiving farmers living in Gunwi, Yeongcheon, and Pohang in Gyeongbuk into believing it was fertilizer and burying it on farmland or secretly dumping it on their own land, thereby earning an illicit profit worth approximately 1.3 billion KRW.

According to the police, the group operated in an organized manner with the company CEO as the mastermind, systematically dividing roles such as overseeing administrative tasks, scouting burial sites, transporting waste, handling burial, resolving civil complaints, and providing legal advice to carry out illegal activities.

Among the suspects arrested are two organized crime members from the Gyeongbuk area, a former vice chairman of the county council, a former director of the city hall’s environmental department (grade 4), and a former director of the prosecution office’s secretariat (grade 3). The former prosecution secretariat director is also facing charges of violating the Attorney-at-Law Act after it was confirmed that he provided legal consultations for ongoing investigations in exchange for monetary compensation.

The police have applied for pre-indictment seizure of 960 million KRW in criminal proceeds obtained illegally, targeting real estate, movable property, and bank deposits owned by the main suspects.

Farmer A, who unknowingly spread the waste on farmland believing it was fertilizer, said, “Around October 2020, I received fertilizer and planted onions in November of that year, but the onions did not grow until June 2021. I have suffered losses exceeding 60 million KRW due to ruined crops, and it breaks my heart. Even now, more than a year later, I cannot plant any crops on the field.”

The police stated, “So far, it has been confirmed that nine farmers, including Mr. A, suffered serious damage after being deceived into spreading the waste on their fields, believing it was fertilizer.”

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