Police nab Singaporean, others for shipping drugs to Southeast Asia

Social Affairs

Published: 14 Dec. 2023, 18:06

Police nab Singaporean, others for shipping drugs to Southeast Asia

Police nab four alleged drug distributors in Itaewon, central Seoul, in April. The alleged drug suspects came to Korea in September last year after the Singaporean authorities went after them for selling drugs in Singapore. [SEOUL METROPOLITAN POLICE AGENCY]

Police on Thursday announced that they have apprehended several foreigners residing in Korea on suspicion of distributing and selling drugs to Southeast Asian countries.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, the police apprehended 100 suspects involved in cyber drug crimes during their seven-month crackdown from April to November. Twenty-four have been officially arrested.

Four suspects, including a 37-year-old Singaporean national heading an international drug sales organization, are accused of distributing drugs, including cannabis and meth, in the form of jellies, candies and e-cigarettes overseas from September last year to July.

The police said the four came to Seoul in September last year, living together in Gangnam in southern Seoul and Itaewon in central Seoul, after Singaporean authorities began tracking them for distributing drugs in countries like Singapore and Vietnam.

The suspects generated 250 million won ($193,000) in profit by selling drugs through Telegram, according to the police. They are also accused of hiring a Korean Singaporean to help them contact and communicate with illegal drug distributors in Korea to expand domestic distribution.

However, the Korean police busted them in April with the help of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and Singapore’s Central Narcotics Bureau.

Police noted that the distribution methods of narcotics have recently evolved on a “transnational scale,” such as by establishing hubs anywhere in the world and selling them through social media.

Police stressed this was a different approach from how domestic drug distributors sold narcotics through the so-called throwing method, where drugs are dropped at a designated area and buyers pick them up.

During the latest crackdown, the police also arrested three foreigners, including a Russian national, involved in selling drugs such as hashish (cannabis concentrate), mephedrone, and spice to Central Asians residing in Korea through Telegram in August of last year.

Authorities seized approximately 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of hashish from the trio, their biggest haul in the past three years. About 4.5 kilograms of drugs worth 460 million won were confiscated, along with criminal proceeds of 40 million won.

In another case, the police detained 18 individuals, including the head of a Chinese drug trafficking organization based in China and Thailand. The group has been smuggling narcotics into the country through international express mail since June, such as by hiding drugs in packages of dried squid.

Over the past seven months, the police uncovered 33 individuals involved in narcotics distribution through social media, 45 individuals who purchased drugs through crypto-asset exchanges and 23 who obtained drugs through clubs in Gangnam, southern Seoul.

Police said they would enhance social media monitoring to respond to evolving drug-distributing methods and cooperate with related institutes, including the NIS and international customs offices.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]