Drug kingpin accused of exploiting disabled courier

Park Wang-yeol, known as the “Telegram drug kingpin,” is accused of exploiting a man with an intellectual disability as a courier and attempting to expand drug trafficking beyond Asia, including to Africa.

According to court records released on March 27, the man was sentenced to seven years in prison in July last year for smuggling methamphetamine from the Philippines into South Korea. Rulings from both trial and appellate courts show he traveled to the Philippines on June 1, 2024, to carry out the operation. At a hotel lobby in Manila, he received about 1,480 grams of methamphetamine worth 148 million won from one of Park’s associates, an amount equivalent to roughly 49,000 doses.

The following day, after arriving in South Korea, he delivered the drugs to another individual in a men’s restroom on the third basement level of Incheon International Airport. He was paid about 2 million won.

The courier had previously been discharged from military service after being deemed unfit, having been diagnosed with mild intellectual disability and an adjustment disorder, with a full-scale IQ of around 50. Full-scale IQ measures overall cognitive ability, with an average of 100. Scores between 70 and 79 are considered borderline, while those between 50 and 69 indicate mild intellectual disability.

Court documents also show that Park discussed plans with the man in the Philippines to export drugs to other regions. The court said there were indications they considered trafficking beyond the Philippines to Africa and spoke openly about possible shipments to Australia and Myanmar.

Separately, Park appeared at the Uijeongbu District Court in Gyeonggi Province on March 27 for a pretrial detention hearing. Police have requested an arrest warrant on charges that he distributed about 4.9 kilograms of methamphetamine worth 3 billion won between 2019 and 2020. Investigators said initial questioning following his repatriation has already uncovered additional suspected offenses, and the investigation is ongoing.


고진영 goreal@donga.com