[Anchor]
Three criminal rings that smuggled large quantities of drugs from Southeast Asia into South Korea by hiding them inside sunflower seed bags and snack boxes have been caught by the police. The seized amount is enough for hundreds of thousands of people to take simultaneously, raising concerns that Southeast Asian drugs are spreading into everyday life.
Reporter Yoo Soo-Hwan has the details.
[Reporter]
As a police investigator peels away layers of plastic wrap, a bundle of aluminum foil is revealed.
Opening the package reveals a massive pile of yaba, a synthetic drug primarily manufactured in Southeast Asia.
The place where the large quantity of yaba was hidden was an ordinary snack box.
A Thai man in his 40s who attempted to smuggle this into the country was arrested by the police last month.
This is another footage captured in October of last year in front of Juan Station in Michuholl-gu, Incheon.
Two men secretly exchange a white paper bag while looking around, exchange a brief greeting, and disappear.
What they handed over appeared to be an ordinary bag of sunflower seeds, but inside were philopon (methamphetamine) and ketamine.
The police announced that they have apprehended three rings that smuggled and distributed drugs from Southeast Asia into the country in this manner.
[Hwang In-gi, Head of Narcotics Crime Investigation Unit 2, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency: Most of them were concealed in sunflower seed bags, and there was one suspect who hid them on their body. The method involved wrapping philopon with tape tightly around the groin....]
A total of 30 people, including smugglers, distributors, and buyers across the three rings, were caught, and 17 of them were taken into custody.
The amount of drugs smuggled into the country by these groups, confirmed so far, includes 1.25 kg of philopon and 500 g of ketamine—an amount sufficient for approximately 570,000 people to use simultaneously.
The police explained that they were able to capture the three rings by collaborating with relevant agencies such as the National Intelligence Service and customs authorities to receive overseas intelligence.
They also stated that they have requested additional Interpol Red Notices for three overseas kingpins and are tracking down one more overseas kingpin.
(Video Reporter: Lee Chan-su | Video Editing: Park Choon-bae)
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