Suspect A is escorted by police on Friday after being deported from China. [Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency]
Suspect A is escorted by police on Friday after being deported from China. [Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency]

An 18-year fugitive run by a drug trafficking suspect has come to an end. The suspect had evaded authorities by moving between China and the Philippines after being identified for distributing drugs into South Korea from the Philippines. He was recently apprehended in China and will now face justice in South Korea.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Metropolitan Investigation Unit's drug crime investigation team said Friday it had forwarded suspect A to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in custody on charges of recruiting couriers in the Philippines and smuggling large quantities of methamphetamine into South Korea.

A, who was based in the Philippines, recruited a courier identified as B to transport drugs into South Korea. Through B, he smuggled drugs into the country three times between October 2015 and January 2016.

Courier B concealed a total of 1.6 kilograms of methamphetamine in a backpack and smuggled it from Manila's airport to Incheon Airport. The drugs were valued at 5.3 billion won ($3.8 million) — enough for approximately 53,000 people to use at once.

A had been on a wanted list since 2008, when he fled to China in October of that year to evade a separate drug investigation. He subsequently moved back and forth between the Philippines and China to stay hidden, at one point purchasing a lost passport belonging to someone else to enter China illegally and slip through surveillance.

After 18 years on the run, he was caught by the Dandong Public Security Bureau in China on July 8. China forcibly deported him to South Korea on Aug. 13. The South Korean Consulate General in Shenyang, upon learning of his deportation, shared his arrival schedule and details with South Korean police.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's drug crime investigation team arrested A at the Incheon Port International Passenger Terminal on Friday and applied for an arrest warrant, which a court granted on Sunday.

"This case reaffirms that long-term overseas fugitives will ultimately be apprehended through close cooperation among domestic and foreign agencies," a police official said. "Police will continue to work closely with relevant agencies at home and abroad to respond firmly to drug crimes that cross national borders."


20ki@heraldcorp.com