Incheon Airport Customs Detains and Refers Man in His 60s for 'Hiding Cannabis in Cereal'

CCTV Footage Tracing Identifies Recipient

A man was caught by customs officials for allegedly concealing cannabis in international mail from the United States and attempting to distribute it in South Korea.

Separating cannabis hidden in cereal. Incheon Airport Customs.

Incheon Airport Customs said on Oct. 30 that it had detained and referred to the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office in September a 68-year-old man identified as A, the alleged ringleader of a drug-smuggling operation, on suspicion of smuggling cannabis into South Korea in international mail from the United States and attempting to distribute it in an organized manner.

To evade customs inspections, the group mixed 226 grams of cannabis into cereal, sealed it in a plastic bag and cleverly concealed it among other food products. However, Incheon Airport Customs flagged the parcel as high-risk cargo through information analysis, conducted a detailed inspection, discovered the concealed cannabis and immediately launched an investigation.

After arranging a controlled delivery of the parcel, the customs investigation team traced its movements backward by analyzing CCTV footage and identified its final destination and recipient.

The drug-smuggling organization designated a secluded alley in Gangbuk-gu, Seoul, as the initial delivery location. Investigators found that it had used a method known as "multi-stage quick-delivery splitting," in which the first pickup courier passed the delivered parcel to another courier, repeating the process several times.

In particular, the couriers repeatedly changed routes while on the move and wandered around to check whether they were being watched, in an attempt to evade investigators. However, through persistent analysis of CCTV footage, the investigation team tracked their movements at each stage and successfully identified the final recipient and his residence.

After conducting surveillance near the identified residence, the investigation team arrested the principal smuggling suspect, who had ultimately received the parcel. At the residence, they seized 3.83 grams of methamphetamine, drug-use paraphernalia and notes containing details suggesting past smuggling activity.

The suspect claimed that he had merely intended to deliver the parcel on the orders of an upstream supplier. However, based on CCTV footage and items seized from his residence, customs officials established that he had colluded closely with the supplier in advance and taken part in the drug smuggling.

Nam Changhun, head of the Investigation Bureau at Incheon Airport Customs, said, "This case demonstrates how, after detecting drugs through a detailed customs inspection, we pursued the investigation persistently and uncovered the full scope of the smuggling operation." He added, "We will continue to track down the accomplices and further enhance our information analysis and investigative techniques so that we can respond firmly to drug-smuggling crimes that are becoming increasingly sophisticated and organized."

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