Six Years in Prison for Taiwanese Man in His 70s Who Brought Suitcase with 5.1 kg of Methamphetamine into Gimhae Airport

Offered "$1 million" to deliver suitcase
Court: "Recognized potential for drugs"

A Taiwanese man in his 70s received a six-year prison sentence for bringing a suitcase containing over 5 kg of methamphetamine from Cambodia into Korea through Gimhae International Airport.

Busan District Court. Yonhap News Agency

According to legal sources on September 6, the Busan District Court's Criminal Division 5 (Presiding Judge Kim Hyunsoon) sentenced the Taiwanese national, a man in his 70s known as Mr. A, to six years in prison for violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (related to psychotropic drugs). The sentencing took place on August 26, and the Busan District Court made the ruling public as a major case on September 3.

Mr. A was indicted on charges of receiving a suitcase containing 5.113 kg of methamphetamine in front of a hotel in Cambodia on March 22 and then smuggling it into Korea. The methamphetamine, valued at approximately KRW 511.3 million, had been divided among three backpacks.

Mr. A checked the suitcase as baggage at Siem Reap International Airport in Cambodia, transited through Hanoi, Vietnam, and entered Korea via Gimhae International Airport the following morning.

Investigations found that Mr. A carried the suitcase after being offered $1 million by a British individual he had met through an acquaintance, who proposed the "task of delivering goods for money laundering."

During the trial, Mr. A claimed that he was unaware the suitcase contained methamphetamine. He stated that the person who made the offer introduced himself as working for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and that he believed the suitcase only contained a "security token" required for money laundering.

However, the court ruled that Mr. A brought the suitcase into Korea while recognizing the possibility that it might contain methamphetamine. The grounds cited included the excessively large $1 million fee relative to the complexity of the task, as well as testimony that Mr. A himself questioned whether the bag’s contents were drugs.

Mr. A also testified to investigative authorities and in court that he had seen news reports warning that suitcases transported at the request of strangers may contain drugs.

The court explained the sentencing by stating, "Drug importation offenses have a high potential to spread narcotics domestically, facilitate distribution, and lead to further crimes; therefore, a strict response is necessary. The amount of methamphetamine the defendant brought in is substantial, and the defendant continues to deny the crime and shows no remorse."

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