The Major Crimes Investigation Agency has referred a drug suspect to prosecutors for the first time since its launch on the 2nd of this month, marking its first case of handing over a detained suspect.
The narcotics investigation bureau of the Seoul Regional Major Crimes Investigation Agency said on the 25th that it had referred a suspect from a Southeast Asian country, identified only as A, to the Incheon District Prosecution Service. A was detained on the 23rd on charges of violating the Act on the Control of Narcotics.
A is accused of attempting to distribute 2.5 kilograms of cannabis in South Korea by concealing it in an international parcel — enough for about 5,000 people to use at once. Customs officials first discovered the drugs hidden in the parcel, and the agency allowed the delivery to proceed in a controlled delivery operation to track down the actual recipient, leading to A's arrest without a warrant.
Citing the size of the smuggling attempt and the risk that A would destroy evidence or flee, the agency applied to the Incheon District Prosecution Service for a detention warrant on the 17th. Prosecutors requested the warrant the following day, and the court issued it.