KOREAN STUDENTS RECRUITED TO SMUGGLE DRUGS

Traffickers Pay Vancouver Visitors To Be Drug Mules

Matthew Ramsey
The Province

Drug traffickers recruited female Korean students in Vancouver to
smuggle more than $300 million worth of cocaine, methamphetamine and
ecstasy around the world, Korean investigators say.

Prosecutors in Suwon, South Korea, say they've cracked a Hong
Kong-based drug-smuggling ring, arresting 45 people and detaining 18,
including at least seven women accused of working as drug "mules" --
people who transport drugs.

Prosecutors say the gang recruited the English-language students in
Vancouver starting in March 2004. They were paid about $1,800 per
flight to strap packs of drugs weighing up to a kilogram under
maternity support belts.

The ring flew the women to Japan, Australia and Korea before
authorities in Korea learned in February of a shipment of 10,000
ecstasy pills and three kilograms of meth being smuggled into that country.

In the 10 months it was operating, the ring is alleged to have
smuggled 50 kg of meth and 30 kg of cocaine, as well as ecstasy. The
total street value is about $304 million.

Cpl. Scott Rintoul of the RCMP's drug-awareness section wasn't
surprised to hear about the busts.

Rintoul met with Japanese customs authorities recently after several
cases of Canadian citizens trying to smuggle meth into Japan.

Flights from Canada are typically not regarded with as much suspicion
as nations with a drug reputation, he said.

"Obviously, [the smugglers] will use whatever mode of transport that
is the least suspicious," he said.

Yonah Martins, of the Corean Canadian Coactive society, said Korean
students can pay tens of thousands of dollars to learn English in
Vancouver. The financial pressure can be intense, she said.

"It's very shocking. I can only imagine what circumstances surrounded
[the women] to do such things," Martins said.

There are approximately 10,000 Korean students studying in Vancouver
at public schools and about 200 private organizations. The students
spend an estimated $760 million in the city each year.

Justine Song, marketing manager for Western Town College in
Vancouver, said this was the first time she'd heard of students
falling into such crime rings.