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A total of 4,212 Yaba tablets seized by the West Sea Coast Guard from a suspect's residence in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province. / Photo courtesy of the West Sea Regional Coast Guard Headquarters

The West Sea Regional Coast Guard Headquarters announced on May 28 that it has apprehended a Thai national, referred to as A, at a residence in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, on charges of attempting to smuggle a massive quantity of methamphetamine—enough for approximately 200,000 simultaneous doses—into South Korea, and for the illegal possession of a large volume of psychotropic substances, specifically Yaba.

The arrest was executed through a tightly coordinated joint investigation involving multiple government agencies, including the West Sea Regional Coast Guard, the National Intelligence Service (NIS), the Gwangju Immigration and Foreigner Office, and Gwangju Customs.

According to the Coast Guard, suspect A is accused of attempting to smuggle 6.05 kg of methamphetamine, valued at approximately 2.4 billion KRW, into the country. Furthermore, authorities raided A's residence and seized 4,212 tablets of the psychotropic substance Yaba, estimated to be worth around 200 million KRW.

The Coast Guard's investigation revealed that the 6.05 kg shipment of methamphetamine had actually been intercepted and seized preemptively by Thai law enforcement agencies in Thailand prior to its departure. Investigators believe that the narcotics syndicate intended to distribute these illegal substances primarily among foreign crew members working in South Korea's maritime industries and foreign workers employed in local adult entertainment establishments.

"Through a seamless and comprehensive cooperation framework among related agencies, we were able to block a large-scale influx of illicit narcotics into the domestic market before they could cross our borders," stated Ryu Seok-am, Head of the Narcotics Investigation Squad at the West Sea Regional Coast Guard. "We plan to expand our investigation to track down the upstream smuggling organization involved in this operation as well as their domestic distribution networks."

He further emphasized, "As narcotics-related crimes have recently been spreading within maritime labor communities and foreign worker enclaves, we will continue to strengthen our enforcement and investigative crackdowns in close partnership with relevant government bodies."

                                                                                                         Lee Myeong-nam