Police in South Korea have charged 17 American service members with smuggling and selling synthetic marijuana, which they claim was imported via the U.S. military’s postal system.
According to Cha Min-suk, a detective in Pyeongtaek, a city south of the capital Seoul, four South Korean citizens and a Filipino citizen were also detained, on Wednesday.
According to its website, Camp Humphreys, the center of U.S. Forces Korea, and the busiest airfield for the American Army in the Pacific, were the sites of “unprecedented” search-and-seizure activities that led to the arrests, according to Cha.
According to Cha, the suspects are charged with exploiting the American military mail service to smuggle in about 12 ounces of synthetic cannabis from the United States. He claimed that over the course of a year, they were also accused of using the substance, which is prohibited in South Korea, as well as selling and distributing it.
The U.S. Medication Enforcement Administration defines synthetic marijuana as any medication that mimics the effects of THC, the primary psychoactive component of marijuana.
According to The New York Times, anyone found buying and selling marijuana risks minimum prison terms of one year while those found importing it into South Korea might receive prison sentences ranging from five years to life. According to the publication, those who are caught using it face fines and prison terms totaling up to five years and $37,600, respectively.
After questioning, all 17 U.S. soldiers were permitted to return to their military locations, but according to Cha, one was currently being held inside a U.S. military base and is thought to have played a crucial part in the alleged smuggling and distribution operation.
In a news release issued on Wednesday, United States Forces Korea stated that although it was aware of the inquiry into “alleged illegal drug behavior & misuse of the military mail system,” no service members were being arrested or imprisoned at the time.
It added that it expects everyone working on the bases and their families “to conduct themselves correctly, both on and off duty” and that it “does not condone any behaviors amongst its personnel which violate South Korean laws, rules, or directives.”
Two months prior to the event, Travis King, a U.S. soldier stationed in South Korea, made news across the world when he dashed into North Korea while on a tour with local residents of a border village.
King had spent nearly two months in a South Korean prison on assault charges and was in the process of being sent back to the United States to face military punishment.