Forged Checked Baggage Tags
Entire Shipment Seized at Customs
Court: "Involved with Drug Syndicate in Hong Kong... Used Sophisticated Criminal Methods"
A Chinese national who secretly brought a suitcase containing methamphetamine for 660,000 doses into Korea by forging checked baggage tags has received a heavy prison sentence.
The Supreme Court's Second Division (Presiding Justice Kwon Youngjun) announced on the 17th that it has upheld the lower court's ruling, which sentenced Mr. A to 15 years in prison for violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (Narcotics).
Mr. A was brought to trial on charges of conspiring with an unidentified individual in Canada last August to smuggle a suitcase containing 19.9 kilograms of methamphetamine from Toronto Airport in Canada to Incheon Airport. The methamphetamine Mr. A attempted to bring in was enough for approximately 660,000 doses (based on 0.03g per dose), with a wholesale value estimated at 1.99 billion won. However, all of the methamphetamine was discovered and confiscated during the customs X-ray screening process at the airport.
During the trial, Mr. A claimed that he received the suitcase at the request of his girlfriend and believed it contained COVID-19 medication, but this argument was not accepted by the court.
The court of first instance found that Mr. A had close ties to narcotics, having previously served a prison sentence for drug-related crimes as a member of a drug crime organization in Hong Kong. The court also noted that he used a sophisticated method by forging baggage tags to transport the drugs as checked luggage, indicating a deliberate and professional approach to the crime, and sentenced him to 13 years in prison. The appellate court accepted only the prosecutor's argument that the sentence was too lenient and increased the sentence to 15 years. The Supreme Court also found the appellate court's decision to be correct.
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