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A drug dealer currently serving time in prison filed a prison grievance with a detective, asking why the person who bought drugs from him was not being punished. We obtained the letters the detective subsequently sent to the prison, and our reporting revealed that the drug buyer had actually been utilized as an informant cooperating in an undercover investigation.

Morning Zoom-In, reporter Dong Eunyeong.

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Another man, surnamed Lee, repeatedly appears in the sentencing ruling of 53-year-old Roh, who has been serving time in prison since February of last year for illegal methamphetamine trafficking.

Lee is an individual who attempted to buy methamphetamine from Roh in January of the year before last by paying 1.1 million won (approx. $800), purchased methamphetamine from him for 3.2 million won (approx. $2,300) in February of the same year, and received a free sample of methamphetamine the following month.

Finding out that Lee had not been punished or even booked—unlike himself, who has been serving time for nearly a year and a half—Roh filed grievances with the Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission and the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office in April.

[Shin Al-chan / Lawyer: When drugs are traded, there is no case where only one side escapes punishment. It means he wasn't even booked for over two years and didn't even hold the status of a suspect. That is practically burying the case.]

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 at the Seoul Songpa Police Station who had handled the cases of Roh and Lee.

In the letter, the detective wrote that since Lee was being investigated for another drug case around a similar time, "it was viewed as a comprehensive single crime, and a separate investigation into that specific case was not initiated."

Finding this explanation unconvincing, Roh filed a grievance once again, prompting the detective to send another letter to the prison.

The letter contained a completely reversed stance from the ones sent three weeks prior, stating, "We are conducting a pre-booking investigation regarding Lee" and "Please refer to this as we will provide interim notifications 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," adding that "there is no longer any need to file a petition."

According to SBS reporting, it was confirmed that the Seoul Songpa Police Station actually forwarded Lee's case to the prosecution in mid-May, intensifying controversy as it was revealed that the police had failed to even book a person with confirmed drug-related charges for over two years since the incident occurred.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
(Reported by Dong Eunyeong | Video by Lee Sang-hak | Video Editing by Kim Yun-sung | Design by Park Cheon-woong)