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Chinese national gets 15 years after attempting to smuggle 20 kilos of meth through Incheon Airport

Published: 17 Dec. 2025, 16:31

[JOONGANG ILBO]

A Chinese national who secretly smuggled a suitcase containing methamphetamine worth 1.99 billion won ($1.35 million) into Korea by attaching another passenger’s baggage tag onto the suitcase has received a final prison sentence of 15 years.

The Supreme Court recently upheld a lower court’s ruling sentencing the defendant for violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes related to controlled substances, according to legal sources on Wednesday.

The defendant was indicted on charges of conspiring with an unidentified accomplice in Canada in August last year to bring a travel suitcase containing 19.9 kilograms (43 pounds) of methamphetamine from Toronto Pearson International Airport to Incheon International Airport.

At Toronto airport, someone cut off one side of a baggage tag attached to another passenger’s luggage and affixed it to the suitcase containing the drugs. As a result, the suitcase entered Incheon Airport disguised as another traveler's ordinary checked baggage.

The defendant entered Korea on a flight departing from Hong Kong, waited in the arrival area, then collected the drug-filled suitcase from the baggage claim for the Toronto flight.

The methamphetamine was discovered during an X-ray screening by customs officials at the airport and was seized.

A drug detection dog is seen sniffing for drugs in front of a conveyor belt at Terminal 1 of Incheon International Aiport on Sept. 2, 2023. [NEWS1]

During the trial, the defendant claimed to have picked up the suitcase at the request of a girlfriend and said they believed it contained Covid-19 medication. The court rejected this argument.

The first trial court noted that the defendant and the accomplice had previously belonged to the same drug trafficking organization and had remained in frequent contact before entry into Korea, discussing flight schedules and routes.

Investigators also found photos of the baggage tag used in the crime stored on the defendant’s mobile phone.

Taking into account that the defendant had already served two long prison terms in Hong Kong for drug-related offenses and had used a sophisticated method involving forged baggage tags, the first court sentenced the defendant to 13 years in prison.

The defendant appealed, arguing that the sentence was excessive, and admitted to the crime during the second trial. However, the appellate court accepted the prosecution’s argument that the punishment was too lenient and increased the sentence to 15 years. The defendant appealed again, but the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JUNG SI-NAE [[email protected]]