Oh, now the jig is up—Korean authorities are stepping up their monitoring of USFK mail after a recent drug bust involving a US soldier:
Besides keeping a close watch on detecting illegal substances coming from abroad via air mail, the ministry will step up sharing information on drug-related issues with the Korean branches of the U.S. Criminal Investigation Division (CID) and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to prevent smuggling.
The ministry also said it plans to urge Washington to pay more attention to drug-related cases through diplomatic channels.
Embassy folk, you’ve been warned.
Anyway, in case you were unfamiliar with the case that started this, a US Army private was recently busted for smuggling into Korea a buttload of synthetic pot:
The Violent Crimes Division of Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office confirmed on July 19 that it had issued a detention warrant for a Pvt. L, 23, with the Eighth US Army’s 2nd Infantry Division on charges of smuggling through the international mail some 3,480g of so-called “spice,” a synthetic substitute for marijuana.
The catch was enough for about 7,000 people (0.5g per person), and roughly equal to the total 3,509g of synthetic marijuana seized by customs officials last year.
You have to praise the ingenuity, though—I mean, it’s not like anybody’s ever tried to mail themselves pot in Korea, right?
I’m looking forward to the first “bath salts” bust in Korea.
PS: Been a bit of a tough run for USFK lately, with this, the incident involving the MPs down in Osan, and news that a Korean employee of a US base in Daegu had been illegally selling base passes to local notables.
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”Embassy folk, you’ve been warned”….learn to read Engrishee Robert.
“through diplomatic channels” is referencing the way the Korean government is addressing the issue, and not the way drugs were shipped.
My bad.
Why do governments always get this wrong. Where there is demand there will be supply. Trying to curb the supply creates more incentive to smuggle and thus more drugs. What a waste of time and effort, not to mention tax payer money.
Why this matter is so vintage. Still alarming though. It seems they’re blind. Via air mail? Serious? And they don’t notice that. I find it so lame. Really.
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