"Reality Stranger Than Fiction"... 5-Ton Drug Smuggler Deported to Korea as Elderly Man After 22 Years

Detectives at the airport are guiding an elderly man with gray hair sitting in a wheelchair.

This elderly man is the individual who smuggled over 5 tons of drugs on the high seas of South America and fled overseas 22 years ago.

The Korean National Police Agency and the Busan Coast Guard announced that they had secured the custody of an 80-year-old South Korean national, surnamed A, who was residing illegally in Ghana, and repatriated him to South Korea.

A is suspected of serving as a manager and supervisor on a deep-sea fishing vessel between 2002 and 2004, transporting drugs for a drug trafficking ring five times on the high seas of South America and receiving payment in return.

The drugs transported by A are estimated to be cocaine, with the total volume reaching 5,385 kg and an estimated market value of approximately 4.8 trillion KRW.

Investigations revealed that after his accomplices aboard the ship at the time were punished, A fled to Ghana around 2004 and has lived in hiding as an illegal resident for over 20 years.

Following the Busan Coast Guard's request for an Interpol Red Notice, the National Police Agency closely tracked A's location by sharing location information with the Ghanaian police.

Finally, through cooperation with the South Korean Embassy in Ghana, local police in Ghana arrested A, and his repatriation was successfully carried out through forced deportation procedures.

Taking custody of A, the Busan Coast Guard plans to conduct an intensive investigation into the specific details of the drug transport, the receipt of smuggling fees, and connections to the drug trafficking ring.

The police and the Coast Guard emphasized that they will relentlessly track down major maritime crime suspects who have fled overseas and deal with them sternly.

Reported by Lee Hyeon-yeong | Video by Seo Byeong-wook | Graphics by Lee Su-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.