Smuggling worth $3.6 million. The Pole received his final sentence in Korea

Supreme Court of South Korea upheld the 13-year prison sentence for a Polish citizen, the Chosun Ilbo daily reported. The man was convicted of participating in organized smuggling from Germany to South Korea. over 51 kg of ketamine and approx. 69 thousand ecstasy tablets with a total black market value of $3.6 million.

In justifying the final verdict, the judges referred to the gravity of the crime. “Drug crimes have serious negative consequences for the entire society and require severe measures,” said the appeals court, whose position was fully shared by the Supreme Court.

In the first trial, the Pole, whose name was not disclosed, was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but the appeals court decided to increase the penalty. It was then noted that the accused acted in a professional manner as part of a criminal group, which, in accordance with South Korean regulations, raises the lower limit of the sentence in such cases.

According to the case files, the convicted person cooperated with a dealer in Germany who, in April 2025, hid contraband in sculptures and sent it by air to Incheon airport. The Pole then handed over some of the goods – ketamine and ecstasy with a market value of approximately USD 0.4 million – to local dealers in Ulsan, in the southeast of South Korea.

The defense argued that the convict was not the initiator of the procedure, he pleaded guilty and engaged in criminal activities out of fear for the safety of his family. However, the Supreme Court found that due to the scale of the crime and the amount of drugs involved, the lower court's verdict was correct and ultimately dismissed the appeal.

In South Korea strict anti-drug laws apply. For organized smuggling of psychotropic substances on such a scale, local court guidelines provide for a penalty of 13 to 45 years of imprisonment. The case in which the Pole was involved is one of the largest recent attempts to smuggle psychotropic substances – emphasize the local media.

Krzysztof Pawliszak (PAP)

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