Announcement of Investigation Results on Customs Drug Smuggling Allegations
"All Related Allegations Groundless"...Investigation Closed
Joint Investigation Team Notifies National Police Agency of Allegations Against Paek Haeryong
The joint investigation team has concluded its investigation procedures by determining that all allegations related to the "customs drug smuggling involvement suspicions" raised by Senior Superintendent Paek Haeryong were groundless. It concluded that an investigator fell into confirmation bias, relied on the false statements of drug smugglers, and conducted an unreasonable investigation while indiscriminately raising suspicions.
On the 26th, the joint investigation team on suspicions of customs drug smuggling involvement under the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office announced its comprehensive investigation results, stating that it had confirmed there was no substance to the various allegations and therefore cleared 15 suspects of all charges. As for the remaining suspicions, the police investigation team decided not to refer the cases and to transfer them where necessary, thereby closing all investigative procedures.
Superintendent Paek Haeryong stood in front of reporters in June of last year in front of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul to state his position on the launch of the joint investigation team. Yonhap News
In addition, the joint investigation team stated that it notified the National Police Agency of the facts constituting disciplinary grounds and other allegations, after confirming that, in the course of investigating a case at the Yeongdeungpo Police Station in Seoul in the past, Senior Superintendent Paek Haeryong had either failed to file unfavorable investigative materials into the records or had prepared investigative documents containing false information and filed them.
The suspicions of customs drug smuggling involvement arose from a statement obtained by the police in January 2023, alleging that officials of Incheon Customs were involved in a methamphetamine smuggling crime, which led the police to launch an investigation. It was then alleged that the presidential office and the leadership of the police and the Korea Customs Service exerted external pressure to cover up the case. In connection with these suspicions, the joint investigation team was launched in June last year.
The joint investigation team confirmed that the statements by drug smugglers alleging that customs officials had assisted in drug smuggling were false, and in December last year cleared seven customs officials of all charges. Previously, Senior Superintendent Paek Haeryong's team had additionally booked four customs officials and one contractor who helped initialize a customs official's mobile phone, but its dispatch period ended. After that, an additional dispatched police investigation team took over the case and conducted an investigation, and as it found no clear evidence to substantiate the charges, all of them were cleared of charges on the 19th of this month.
Regarding the suspicions that the leadership of the National Police Agency and the Korea Customs Service exerted external pressure on the investigation into the drug smuggling case at the Yeongdeungpo Police Station, eight related persons were cleared of charges in December last year. The joint investigation team determined that, at the time of the public relations instructions, the case had not yet been reported to the presidential office, and therefore the leadership had neither the motive nor the need to exert external pressure on the investigation team. It also explained that the instruction to review transferring the case was confirmed to be a lawful directive in accordance with internal police regulations that allow provincial police agencies to determine and direct the investigative authority for important cases.
As for the allegation that prosecutors neglected their duties by failing to investigate accomplices after arresting a drug smuggler, the case was transferred to the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials on the 19th of this month in accordance with Article 25 of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials Act.
In addition, regarding the suspicions that former Minister of Justice Han Donghoon and former Prosecutor General Lee One-seok interfered with the investigation by exercising their personnel authority to change the drug crime division at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, the joint investigation team found that personnel transfers had already been completed in September 2023, before the suspicions were raised, and therefore the premise for opening a case was inconsistent with the objective facts. It also determined that it was difficult to conclude that the investigation could not proceed, given that only two of the warrants requested by the police at the time were dismissed, and that a prosecutor's decision not to request a warrant constituted a lawful exercise of authority and did not amount to abuse of power, and therefore cleared them of charges.
With respect to the suspicions that the presidential office exerted external pressure on the investigation, the investigation was closed on the 19th of this month after digital forensic analysis of 46 mobile phones and searches of 30 locations, including the residences of high-ranking customs and police suspects, the National Police Agency, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, and Incheon Customs, failed to confirm any record of contact with anyone from the presidential office.
Meanwhile, through digital forensic investigations of 24 mobile phones belonging to members of a Malaysian drug smuggling organization, the joint investigation team identified 16 members of an international drug smuggling organization and indicted six individuals, including drug couriers, on charges of engaging in criminal organization activities and violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (psychotropic substances). For eight individuals residing overseas, it obtained arrest warrants, requested notification upon entry into Korea, and initiated Interpol red notices.
A representative of the joint investigation team stated, "This case involves an international drug smuggling criminal organization that exploited entry procedures in 2023 to smuggle a large quantity of drugs," adding, "An investigator fell into confirmation bias, conducted an unreasonable investigation by relying on the false statements of drug smugglers, and caused social confusion by indiscriminately raising suspicions."
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