"Additional Crimes Revealed"... 'Drug King' Park Wang-yeol Indicted Two Months After Repatriation

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\r\n[The Financial News] Park Wang-yeol, who is accused of distributing drugs into South Korea from a prison in the Philippines, was brought to trial about two months after being repatriated to South Korea.
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On the 22nd, the Joint Government Investigation Headquarters for Drug Crimes indicted Park Wang-yeol on charges including violations of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, among others.
Park is accused of smuggling and distributing methamphetamine and other narcotics into South Korea from the Philippines, Mexico, South Africa, and other countries from November 2019 to August 2024.
The amount of drugs he allegedly smuggled into or distributed in South Korea was worth about 6.4 billion won, including 12.7 kilograms of methamphetamine and 5,791 ecstasy tablets. Including sales proceeds, the total distribution value reached 13.1 billion won.
He is also accused of hiding drugs brought into the country at specific locations and selling them using a so-called 'drop method,' in which he informed buyers of the coordinates. He allegedly stored and managed the drugs in Seoul, Busan, Daegu Metropolitan City, and other areas.
Immediately after Park Wang-yeol's repatriation, the headquarters formed a dedicated task force and launched an investigation. From the 12th to the 16th, investigators visited a Philippine detention facility where Park's nephew, identified as A, and three ringleaders of a linked distribution network were being held. There, they uncovered the details of the crimes and the methods used, and secured a total of five mobile phones used in the offenses.
In particular, the headquarters confirmed that not only Park Wang-yeol but also the ringleaders of drug smuggling, distribution, and sales networks imprisoned in the Philippines had turned the detention facility into a base of operations. They colluded with one another and used their mobile phones to direct domestic members of each organization, while earning profits worth billions of won.
The headquarters plans to bring A and the three ringleaders back to South Korea for further investigation in coordination with the special task force on transnational crime.
It will also form a seven-member team to recover criminal proceeds, led by the Police General Affairs Director and including three investigators specializing in virtual assets. The team will work closely with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and the National Intelligence Service (NIS) to trace and recover illicit gains.
A headquarters official said, "Through joint investigations by prosecutors and police, we were able to reconstruct individual crimes scattered across the country like pieces of a puzzle and clearly identify the drug distribution structure bringing narcotics into South Korea."
Meanwhile, for charges previously under investigation against Park Wang-yeol, including the smuggling of 4.1 kilograms of methamphetamine in June 2025 and the attempted smuggling of 300 grams of methamphetamine in January 2026, prosecutors plan to file additional charges after consulting with and obtaining consent from the Philippine government.
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moon@fnnews.com Moon Young-jin Reporter