[Anchor]
A drug dealer currently serving time in prison filed a prison complaint asking why the buyer who purchased drugs from him was not being punished. The detective in charge sent a direct reply, and the letter obtained by our reporting team contains controversial details.
This is an exclusive report by reporter Dong Eunyeong.
[Reporter]
In the sentencing record of a 53-year-old man surnamed Noh, who has been serving time in prison since February of last year for illegal methamphetamine dealing, another man surnamed Lee appears repeatedly.
Lee is the individual who attempted to buy methamphetamine from Noh in January the year before last for 1.1 million won but failed, bought methamphetamine for 3.2 million won in February of the same year, and received a free sample of methamphetamine the following month.
Realizing that Lee had neither been punished nor even booked, unlike himself who has been serving time for nearly a year and a half, Noh filed complaints with the Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission and the Seoul Dongbu District Prosecutors Office last April.
[Shin Al-chan / Lawyer: When drugs are traded, there is no case where one party is exempt from punishment. It means he was not even booked for over two years and was not given the status of a suspect. That is practically a cover-up.]
Then, in less than a week, a letter arrived at the prison. The sender was none other than the detective from the narcotics investigation team of the Seoul Songpa Police Station who had investigated the case involving Noh and Lee.
The detective wrote in the letter that because Lee was under investigation for another drug case around the same time, they "treated it as a comprehensive single crime and did not independently recognize the case."
Unconvinced by this explanation, Noh filed a complaint again, and the detective sent another letter to the prison.
It contained a completely reversed stance from the letters sent three weeks prior, stating, "We are conducting a pre-booking investigation regarding Lee" and "Please refer to this as we will provide intermediate notices on the progress of the investigation."
A week later, the final letter stated, "We plan to forward Lee's case to the prosecution within this month" and "There is no longer any need to submit a petition."
According to SBS reporting, it was confirmed that the Seoul Songpa Police Station actually forwarded Lee to the prosecution in mid-May. Controversy is growing as it has been revealed that the police failed to even book a person whose drug-related charges were identified for over two years since the incident occurred.
(Photo courtesy of Yonhap News)
Reported by Lee Sang-hak | Video by Kim Yun-sung | Graphics by Park Cheon-woong
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