Taiwanese man sentenced to 6-year prison term in Korea for smuggling meth from Cambodia

A Taiwanese man in his 70s has been sentenced to six years in prison by a district court in Busan, South Korea, for attempting to smuggle 5.1 kilograms of methamphetamine from Cambodia. The offense occurred when the man allegedly received a suitcase containing the drugs at a hotel in Cambodia on March 22 and subsequently attempted to bring it into South Korea via Gimhae International Airport.

The value of the drugs is estimated at approximately 511.3 million won ($378,000). During the trial, the defendant claimed he was unaware of the contents of the suitcase and believed it to contain security tokens. He further alleged that a British man, whom he met through an acquaintance, claimed to work for the International Monetary Fund and offered him $1 million to deliver the suitcase as part of a money laundering operation.

Despite these claims, the court found him guilty, stating that he was at least aware of the possibility that the suitcase could contain drugs.

Brief written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.