DRUG LORD CAUGHT IN VIETNAM

[Anchor Lead]

The last of the big three Korean drug lords in Southeast Asia, has been finally brought to Korea after three years. The man has sold billions of wons worth of illicit drugs in Korea online. Police say he might be at the very top of the Southeast Asian drug smuggling ring.

[Pkg]

A back alley in Gangnam, Seoul. Police raid a car and detain a man. He's the local dealer for the drug smuggling ring known as "Sara Kim," which has been smuggling drugs, such as methamphetamine. from Southeast Asia since 2018. The man would hide drugs in certain places and notify clients via social media, such as Telegram. He has sold at least 7 billion wons worth of narcotics in Korea. Most of his 20 accomplices have been caught so far. But the chief of the drug smuggling ring, known as Kim, had managed to evade police even when Interpol issued a red notice three years ago. Recently police acquired classified information that Kim was hiding in Vietnam. Korean police immediately dispatched officers to Vietnam and arrested Kim in Ho Chi Minh on July 17 with the help of local authorities.

[Soundbite] "You have the right to appoint a counsel and refuse to testify."

On Tuesday, Kim was brought to Korea.

[Soundbite] "Are you the highest-ranking drug dealer? (.....) Do you still have a Telegram account? (.....)"

Police say Kim is one of the top-three drug dealers in Southeast Asia who had transactions with the earlier detained dealers to smuggle narcotics.

[Soundbite] Jeon Jae-hong(Nat‘l Police Agency) : "We had difficulty locating runaway suspects during the pandemic. The detention of this drug dealer marks a new start in capturing runaway criminals."

Police believe Kim has sold much more illegal drugs in Korea than is currently known, and will expand the investigation.