By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter
FedEx, a U.S.-based global delivery service firm, played a key role in busting an international drug ring, Stacy Han, the spokeswoman for its Korean branch, told The Korea Times, Wednesday.
"We have done everything to help law enforcement authorities catch illegal drug traders," Han said. "We received an emailed thank-you note for our cooperation from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)."
The drug bust in question was an attempt by an organized crime ring led by a 40-year-old Korean, identified as Mun, to bring a significant amount of methamphetamines to Korea from Mexico via the United States in January.
The drugs were concealed inside photo albums.
According to Korean prosecutors and police, the contents of the package were detected along its route here.
FedEx officials say that all packages are scanned at the point of departure, with the contents being fully identified.
In addition, the U.S. parcel delivery firm loaned its uniforms to law enforcement officials to disguise themselves as employees in order to allow them to approach the suspects without raising suspicions.
FedEx is a leading delivery company with a global network. In Korea, it has a larger presence than DHL, a FedEx official said.
"For this case, the Korean branch of FedEx was asked to cooperate with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of the U.S. So we tracked the package in question down and handed it over to the customs officials and the DEA officials," said Cho Hye-sun of Burson-Marsteller, the PR agency for FedEx.
She said FedEx has a strict detection system and is less frequently used for drug smuggling. The cargo company did not reveal specific scanning methods or the rate of finding illegal items.
FedEx did not receive any requests from the Korean authorities concerning this case. "We are willing to collaborate with Korean authorities such as police and customs officials if they need assistance in catching smugglers," Cho added.
meeyoo@koreatimes.co.kr
