Four Incheon Airport Customs Officers Charged with Assisting Multinational Drug Syndicate

The police have booked and are investigating four customs officers at Incheon Airport on charges of assisting the smuggling of methamphetamine into the country by a multinational drug syndicate composed of Koreans, Chinese, and Malaysians.

On the 22nd, the Yeongdeungpo Police Station in Seoul announced that the previous day, they had booked four customs officers at Incheon Airport on charges including violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Crimes, violation of the Narcotics Control Act, and obstruction of official duties by deception.

According to the police, these officers are suspected of allowing Malaysian members of the multinational drug syndicate to enter the country without passing through airport security checkpoints in January. At that time, the Malaysian members attached about 4 kg of drugs each to their bodies using four pieces of box tape and concealed them under thick winter clothing to avoid detection during customs inspection.

To identify the customs officers involved, the police conducted two raids at Incheon Airport, seizing basic data such as lists of customs personnel, and carried out three on-site verifications at the airport. However, the customs officers booked are reportedly denying the charges. The police also conducted an on-site verification once in the Myeongdong area of Seoul, where the Malaysian members handed over the smuggled drugs to the Korean ringleader.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, the police suspected that some customs officers at Incheon Airport were involved in the crime and obtained communication warrants for some of the affiliated staff to conduct investigations.

The police arrested 26 members of the multinational drug syndicate on charges of organizing a criminal group and violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Crimes, and among them, 14 were detained and sent to prosecution. The syndicate consists of Koreans, Chinese, and Malaysians and is accused of smuggling 74 kg of methamphetamine into the country, an amount sufficient for approximately 2.46 million doses. The police have seized 27.8 kg of this and are tracking the methamphetamine distributed on the market as well as key figures including the Korean ringleader.