On Wednesday, South Korea’s police force took an alleged “drug lord” into custody, accused of running a narcotics ring in the country from a Philippine prison, according to officials.
Park Wang-yeol, who was serving a 60-year term for triple homicide, was flown to South Korea on temporary extradition, after President Lee Jae Myung requested the handover to Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr at a summit earlier this month.
According to foreign and justice ministry officials, a temporary clause under a treaty between the two countries halts the sentence in the Philippines to allow the suspected ‘drug lord’ to be investigated in South Korea.
Trial In South Korea
South Korean authorities claim that Park, believed to be 47, operated an alleged ring smuggling “large quantities” of illegal narcotics and conspired with accomplices in the country to distribute them.
The Justice Ministry and police officials declined to comment on the scale or value of Park’s alleged drug trade. Some South Korean local media have reported that he had been distributing approximately 60 kilograms of methamphetamine a month, with a street value of 30 billion won (US $20 million).
Illegal drug use in South Korea has steadily increased despite strict anti-drug policies and crackdowns on illicit drug imports and sales.
The Foreign Ministry released a separate statement that said it was important that Park be investigated and face trial in South Korea, so his alleged involvement in illegal activities while under incarceration abroad does not become an example for potential copycat criminals.
Park had escaped the Philippine prison twice, taking advantage of inadequate inmate supervision that allowed prisoners to use smuggled mobile phones and continue illegal activities, said Justice Ministry official Lee Ji-yeon and police official Yoo Seung-ryeol in a briefing.
President Lee thanked Marcos for Park’s extradition and stated that South Korea “will chase anyone harming the country to the end of the earth.”
(With inputs from Reuters)
