U.S. soldiers in S. Korea caught smuggling drugs

SEOUL, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. soldiers in South Korea had been caught smuggling drugs from the United States through military mail, local media reported Wednesday citing police.

The police in Pyeongtaek, about 60 km south of the capital Seoul where the headquarters of the 28,500-strong U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) is located, apprehended 17 U.S. service members, four South Koreans and one Filipino.

Among them, the 33-year-old Filipino and one 27-year-old South Korean woman were detained and transferred to the prosecution for indictment.

The 17 U.S. soldiers and three South Koreans were reported to the prosecution for indictment without detention.

One 24-year-old U.S. service member was accused of having illegally smuggled 350 ml of synthetic cannabis through the USFK mail between February last year and May this year, while smoking, selling and distributing them to USFK soldiers and other people.

The drug smuggled as liquid synthetic cannabis in plastic containers is hard to distinguish from liquid electronic cigarettes.

The smuggled drugs had been mostly sold to U.S. soldiers in Pyeongtaek and Dongducheon, some 40 km north of Seoul, through the detained women and five other people.

The local police had confiscated 12,850 U.S. dollars of drug sales proceeds, 80 ml of synthetic cannabis and other materials, planning to continue investigation into the smuggling routes.