Nigerian arrested in South Korea ‘for smuggling $1.7m meth’

A 46-year-old Nigerian has been arrested in South Korea for smuggling “large amounts of methamphetamines” into the country, police said on Wednesday.

South Korea’s police said the yet-to-be-identified Nigerian attempted to smuggle the meth through international mail from China.

He is currently being detained by the Gyeongnam Provincial police agency in Seoul.

Yonhap, the Korean news agency, said the Nigerian, twice last week and via post, attempted to smuggle into the country 605 grams of meth.

It said the drug, worth some $1.77 million, was hidden in women’s cosmetic products.

“Each parcel was delivered via international express mail,” the police was quoted to have said.

“The volume of meth he tried to sneak into Korea is large enough for about 20,000 people.

“The suspect, who lives in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, and has a blue-collar job, received the mail from China through Cambodia.”

Police further said it had earlier received intelligence about “possible drug smuggling”.

It then impounded the drugs at Incheon International Airport.

It also said investigations are ongoing “to find out whether the suspect had any accomplices”.