[Drug Nation] ④ The Mystery of 'Jeju Ketamine'... "Dispersed from Thailand"

■ Chapter 1. Drugs Have Swept Through Our Society

Oolong Tea Bags Wash Ashore in Jeju, Ketamine Found Inside
Informant Claims "Dispersed at Sea by Thai Organization"
Suspected to Have Drifted North on the Kuroshio Current Since March Last Yea

Testimonies have emerged indicating that the "oolong tea package" ketamine, which has been found in large quantities along the coastlines of Jeju since September last year, was originally dispersed in Thailand. It is said that the main supplier who had been supplying ketamine to Korea died in an accident, and that the arrest of key executives led to the collapse of the organization. The dumping of drugs at sea to dispose of contraband that became difficult to handle is not simply a "transport accident," but rather should be seen as the cartel's deliberate destruction of evidence.

According to J, a civilian military and intelligence expert, who spoke to The Asia Business Daily on May 18, "The ketamine in oolong tea bags was first dispersed in Thailand," adding, "The head of the organization that produced and supplied these drugs was a Korean national, and I confirmed that he died in an accident in the Chiang Saen area of the Golden Triangle during the major floods in August or September 2024."

Last November, drugs disguised as tea bags were found on the rocky shore in Jocheon-eup, Jeju City. Jeju Regional Coast Guard Headquarters

According to the National Police Agency and the Coast Guard, from September last year to recently, ketamine packaged in tea bags has been found 21 times along the coast of Seogwipo City, Jeju. Over these eight months, a total of 38kg of drugs were discovered in Jeju, which is enough for up to 1.33 million people to take simultaneously. Investigative authorities have yet to find any concrete leads. The only speculation is that the drugs, which had been distributed via maritime routes by Southeast Asian smuggling organizations, drifted in via ocean currents for unknown reasons.

J explained that the organization collapsed as key executives were arrested in succession around the time of the main supplier's death. The main smuggling routes were known only to high-ranking members, while lower-level members performed compartmentalized tasks as instructed, making it difficult to rebuild the organization. J added, "The drugs that cost hundreds of thousands of won in Korea can be obtained locally for tens of thousands or even thousands of won," and remarked, "Without knowledge of the smuggling routes, the drugs must have seemed like a ticking time bomb."

J identified the supplier extradited from Thailand in November 2024 as a key executive who had worked under the deceased head. The National Police Agency had extradited a Korean supplier in his 40s, who had been based in Thailand and responsible for smuggling ketamine and methamphetamine into Korea. It was found that this supplier smuggled drugs into Korea through couriers sent by a Telegram distributor. J noted, "This organization controlled a significant portion of the ketamine entering Korea," and explained, "The supplier extradited at the end of 2024 was the person apprehended locally in the summer of that year before the main supplier died."

This organization produced ketamine in the "KK Crime Zone" of Myanmar and built storage facilities in the mountainous Chiang Saen region of northern Thailand. J explained, "When I visited locally early last year, the suppliers in northern Thailand had already scattered around Bangkok and the organization was in disarray. Crucially, at this time, a major earthquake destroyed the ketamine production facilities in Myanmar beyond repair."

J's information aligns with the flow of ocean currents. Typically, it takes about six months for lost buoys or marine debris from Southeast Asia to be found in Jeju or Kyushu, Japan. After the dispersal in February or March last year, it is presumed that the packages drifted via the South China Sea, carried by the northeast monsoon, and then, as the seasonal winds subsided in April, moved north along the Taiwan Warm Current. It is then estimated that they rapidly moved north to Jeju via the Kuroshio Current.

This also mostly matches the investigative findings sent to Korean authorities by Taiwan regarding the ketamine incident. The Taiwanese side reported that "in July last year, large quantities of similarly packaged drugs were discovered in the southwestern sea area of Taiwan, and an investigation is ongoing." J said, "In summer, the northward flow of the Taiwan Current is strong," and noted, "Because tea bags are light and float on the water, they are more affected by wind pressure and could have moved faster than ordinary ocean currents."

An intelligence agency official commented, "In late summer 2024, northern Thailand experienced the worst flooding due to a typhoon," adding, "It is true that the Golden Triangle region, where drug manufacturing facilities are concentrated, suffered a direct blow."

An official from the Narcotics Investigation Unit of the Jeju Regional Coast Guard Headquarters stated, "This information appears to be quite credible," and added, "Taiwanese authorities also consider it unrealistic to view such mass dispersal as being for smuggling or transshipment purposes." The official continued, "We will share this information with the Taiwanese authorities and use it as reference material for our investigation."

Special Reporting Team | Jang Heejoon, Oh Jieun, Park Hosoo, Lee Jiye, Park Jaehyun

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.