ID :
185077
Sun, 05/29/2011 - 06:04
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/185077
The shortlink copeid
Ex-Korean gang member indicted for alleged drug smuggling from Mexico
SEOUL, May 29 (Yonhap) -- Prosecutors said Sunday they indicted a former U.S.-based Korean gang member on charges of smuggling drugs from Mexico and selling them in South Korea, the first known case of drug smuggling from the Latin American nation.
The 42-year-old, identified only as Moon, allegedly brought in a total of 287 grams of methamphetamine, or 9,600 doses, from Mexico on 22 occasions via international courier services between December 2009 and May last year, prosecutors said.
It marked the first case of uncovering a drug smuggling route from Mexico into South Korea, where most smuggled drugs in circulation are believed to be from neighboring China.
Moon, a former member of the largest U.S.-based Korean gang, "Last Generation Korean Killers," stuck 4-50 grams of drugs into Christmas cards, parcels and other mail from the Latin American nation, prosecutors said.
Early last year, South Korean prosecutors launched a joint investigation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and Moon was taken into custody in Mexico in June. But eight days later, he managed to flee the detention center.
Mexican authorities said he broke a prison wall made of plaster and fled, but he later told authorities that he bribed his way out of the detention center.
After 10 months on the run, Moon turned himself in to authorities in Mexico and was extradited to South Korea earlier this year.
The 42-year-old, identified only as Moon, allegedly brought in a total of 287 grams of methamphetamine, or 9,600 doses, from Mexico on 22 occasions via international courier services between December 2009 and May last year, prosecutors said.
It marked the first case of uncovering a drug smuggling route from Mexico into South Korea, where most smuggled drugs in circulation are believed to be from neighboring China.
Moon, a former member of the largest U.S.-based Korean gang, "Last Generation Korean Killers," stuck 4-50 grams of drugs into Christmas cards, parcels and other mail from the Latin American nation, prosecutors said.
Early last year, South Korean prosecutors launched a joint investigation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and Moon was taken into custody in Mexico in June. But eight days later, he managed to flee the detention center.
Mexican authorities said he broke a prison wall made of plaster and fled, but he later told authorities that he bribed his way out of the detention center.
After 10 months on the run, Moon turned himself in to authorities in Mexico and was extradited to South Korea earlier this year.
