January 24, 2025
SEOUL – Three people processing and attempting to sell 61 kilograms of cocaine have been arrested and sent to court in the largest cocaine crime in Korea, investigators said Wednesday.
The Incheon Prosecutors’ Office announced it has indicted three individuals, including a 55-year-old Filipino Canadian and a 34-year-old South Korean national, for violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes and the Narcotics Control Act. They have also requested an Interpol red notice for four accomplices who fled overseas.
The Canadian national is accused of leading the operation.
At a warehouse in Hoengseong-gun, Gangwon Province, between June and July last year, the above individual produced 61 kg of solid cocaine from smuggled liquid cocaine, investigators said.
This amount would be equivalent to 1.22 million individual doses and worth 30 billion won ($24 million) in street value, they added.
The suspects initially received the smuggled liquid cocaine from Colombia via the port of Busan between July and September 2020, authorities said, disguised as construction paint.
Prosecutors believe the three were preparing to re-export the liquid cocaine to Australia, but recently decided to attempt to process and sell it in Korea as well.
The Canadian, described as a former gang member in Canada, and the Korean, identified as a former member of a Korean gang in Los Angeles, are alleged to have collaborated with an international drug cartel. Prosecutors said the cartel provided full financial support for the operation, including warehouse rentals, office space, transportation and materials to disguise the liquid cocaine.
“Drug consumption has been steadily increasing in Korea,” prosecutors told local reporters. “As this case confirms the direct involvement of international drug cartels in Korea, a more aggressive response is necessary.”