South Korea's Serious Crimes Investigation Agency has detained a suspect for the first time since it was launched, 16 days after it formally began operations on the 2nd of this month.
The narcotics investigation bureau of the Seoul Metropolitan Serious Crimes Investigation Agency said on the afternoon of the 18th that it had arrested a Southeast Asian national, identified only as A, on suspicion of violating the Act on the Control of Narcotics.
A is suspected of attempting to smuggle 2.5 kilograms of cannabis into the country through international mail. The agency opened an investigation after identifying the case early this month, tracked the drugs along their delivery route and arrested A without a warrant.
Citing the volume of cannabis involved and the risk that A might destroy evidence or flee, the agency applied the previous day to the Incheon District Prosecution Office for a detention warrant. The prosecution office requested the warrant from the court, which granted it.
The agency investigates six categories of serious crime — corruption, economic crime, narcotics, offenses against national security, cybercrime and defense industry crime — as well as the offense of distorting the law (misusing legal authority to skew the handling of a case).