A man in his 40s who helped smuggle and export Philopon to 30 million people at the same time was sentenced to five years in prison.

(Busan = Yonhap News) Reporter Cha Geun-ho = A man in his 40s who helped smuggle methamphetamine into Korea on a scale that could be used by 30 million people at the same time and smuggled some of it to Australia was sentenced to five years in prison.

The 6th Criminal Division of the Busan District Court (Chief Judge Lim Seong-cheol) announced on the 29th that it sentenced Mr. A, a man in his 40s, to five years in prison after admitting the charge of aiding and abetting a violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes.

Mr. A was handed over to trial on charges of assisting the crime by receiving instructions from his cousin, Mr. B, to deliver the company's operating expenses to be used for smuggling and exporting Philopon and the salary of another accomplice, Mr. C.

Mr. B, who led the crime, and Mr. C, who was in charge of domestic import and export affairs, smuggled 902 kg of Philopon from Mexico into Busan New Port on two occasions in December 2019 and July 2020.

Philopon was hidden inside 20 helical gears, which are industrial parts used in power transmission.

They smuggled 498 kg of these back to Australia in January and April 2021.

When methamphetamine smuggled into Australia was discovered, an investigation began in Korea as well.

The amount of Philopon confiscated in Korea was 404 kg.

The court explained that the total amount of smuggled drugs is enough to administer medication to more than 30 million people at the same time based on one dose, and the value is over 90.2 billion won.

At trial, Mr. A claimed that he only delivered the money under the knowledge that it was Sports Toto gambling funds and did not know that he had committed a drug smuggling crime.

However, the court determined that Mr. A was aware of the crime based on the method of transferring funds, the statements of those involved, and the circumstances of receiving and discarding the hard disk of the export/import business computer.

However, he did not admit responsibility as a co-principal indicted by the prosecution, but was judged to be an aiding and abetting criminal who facilitated the commission of the crime.

The court said, "There is a need to severely punish the import and export crime of distributing and spreading drugs internationally, and Mr. A is denying the crime with unconvincing claims," ​​adding, "However, the sentence was decided considering the fact that the degree of participation was limited to aiding and abetting and there was no history of punishment exceeding a fine."

Previously, Mr. B and Mr. C were sentenced to 30 years in prison and 17 years in prison, respectively, for this case, and the verdict was confirmed.