Police Superintendent Baek Haeryong, who was dispatched to the joint investigation team of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office probing allegations of external pressure in customs drug investigations, criticized the prosecution for not requesting search and seizure warrants for six locations, including customs offices, stating that “they are only offering endless excuses.”
Police Superintendent Baek Haeryong is standing in front of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News
On December 17, Superintendent Baek said, “On December 9, I applied for search and seizure warrants for six locations, including Incheon Airport Customs, to collect basic materials. However, Chae Sooyang, the head of the joint investigation team at the Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office, decided not to request the warrants the previous day,” adding, “I applied for the warrants because the evidence was valuable, but they were dismissed without proper consideration.”
He continued, “An investigation is the process of identifying suspects and collecting evidence, but the head of the joint investigation team seems to be conducting a trial rather than an investigation,” and pointed out, “This is no different from saying that an investigation should only begin after a conviction has been finalized in court.”
Superintendent Baek insisted that “the prosecution and the Korea Customs Service must disclose the videos recorded when members of the Malaysian drug organization entered and exited the country, the electronic data related to the import declaration of wooden cutting boards used to conceal methamphetamine, the flight information and search records of the organization members, and the circumstances under which the case was reported to and jointly managed by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office instead of the Incheon District Prosecutors’ Office, which has jurisdiction over the case.”
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