South Korean authorities have taken into custody alleged drug kingpin Park Wang-yeol, accused of running a major narcotics network from inside a prison in the Philippines.
Park, who is serving a 60-year sentence for triple homicide, was flown to South Korea on Wednesday under a temporary extradition arrangement between the two countries. The transfer followed a request by President Lee Jae Myung to Ferdinand Marcos Jr during a recent summit.
Under the bilateral treaty, Park’s sentence in the Philippines is temporarily suspended to allow South Korean authorities to investigate his alleged crimes and proceed with legal action.
Officials say Park, believed to be 47, is suspected of coordinating the smuggling of large quantities of illegal drugs into South Korea while incarcerated, working with accomplices to distribute narcotics domestically.
While authorities declined to disclose the full scale of the operation, local media reports indicate the network may have handled around 60 kilograms of methamphetamine monthly, with an estimated street value of 30 billion won ($20 million).
South Korea’s justice and police officials also revealed that Park had previously escaped from prison twice, exploiting weak supervision systems that allowed inmates access to smuggled mobile phones and continued criminal activity.
President Lee expressed appreciation to his Philippine counterpart for facilitating the extradition, stressing that authorities would pursue individuals threatening national security “to the end of the earth.”
The foreign ministry emphasised the importance of bringing Park to trial in South Korea, warning that failure to act could embolden similar criminal operations conducted from overseas detention facilities.
Erizia Rubyjeana
