A South Korean court has sentenced a woman in her 90s to prison for helping launder drug proceeds on behalf of her son, a trafficking ringleader currently jailed in Cambodia.
The Incheon District Court handed the defendant a one-year prison sentence and ordered the forfeiture of 386 million won ($260,000) for violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Prevention of Illegal Trafficking in Narcotics.
The court found that she knowingly received and transferred funds linked to narcotics crimes.
“The defendant accepted illegal proceeds while being aware of circumstances indicating their connection to drug-related offenses,” the judge said, noting the severe social harm caused by narcotics crimes and the need for strict punishment.
The court also noted evidence that undermined her claim of ignorance. The woman visited Cambodia five times in 2019 and was informed by phone of her son’s detention there, making it difficult to believe she was unaware of his involvement in drug trafficking.
“Her actions made it harder to trace illicit profits and contributed to the spread of narcotics, rendering the offense particularly serious,” the judge added.
However, the court cited mitigating factors, including her advanced age, lack of prior drug-related convictions and the fact that she acted under her son’s instructions.
Prosecutors said the defendant received a total of 386.42 million won from unidentified individuals on nine occasions between April 2020 and February 2022. She then transferred the funds to bank accounts designated by her son, effectively laundering the proceeds.
Her son, a man in his 60s, was arrested in Cambodia in July 2020 on charges including methamphetamine possession and remains imprisoned there. Investigators believe he continued to coordinate drug trafficking operations from prison using a mobile phone, arranging at least nine shipments of narcotics into South Korea between April 2019 and July 2022.
jychoi@heraldcorp.com
