Korean tagged in Phl-Guam illegal drug trade

MANILA, Philippines - A Korean man, arrested last week for taking his child hostage and beating his Filipina partner, allegedly masterminded the smuggling of drugs from the Philippines to Guam in 2011.

This allegation is based on a warrant for Lee Man Kwon’s arrest issued by the Incheon District Court, which also mentioned Lee’s “accomplices” in Manila. 

The arrest warrant, a copy of which was furnished to the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), surfaced after the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) arrested the Korean in Fairview on Aug. 20.

What initially appeared to be a case for child abuse and wife battery became one involving international drug trafficking, with authorities looking into the background of the Korean, who had apparently been hiding in the Philippines.

According to the arrest warrant issued in January 2012 by Judge Lee Kyu Young, the Korean national reportedly masterminded the delivering of methamphetamine when “he had remitted flight and travel expense to his accomplices in the Philippines.”

After this, Lee allegedly had his “accomplices fetch 2,079.92 grams of methamphetamine from the Philippines to Guam via Incheon Airport in Korea.”

It was at the Incheon Airport where the supposed accomplices were arrested on Dec. 12, 2011.

After Lee was arrested for taking his one-month-old son hostage in their house and hurting his Filipina partner, PDEA director general Undersecretary Arturo Cacdac Jr. told QCPD director Chief Superintendent Richard Albano that the Korean was a fugitive wanted for drug trafficking.

When the Korean was arrested, police recovered from him drug paraphernalia, which tested positive for shabu, said Senior Inspector Roberto Razon, head of the QCPD’s anti-drug section.

Superintendent Dennis de Leon, commander of the QCPD Station 5, cited accounts from Lee’s partner, Diana Ross Young, who said what she knew was that her lover was into casino financing.

“A neighbor also claimed the couple had been renting the apartment for less than a year. They reportedly came from Manila,” De Leon said in a recent interview.

Chief Inspector Rodel Marcelo, head of the QCPD’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit, also cited an account from Young, who claimed she knew of her partner’s Korean friends, who had been deported before. 

“According to her, they had been together for two years. She also claimed her partner was into drugs lately when he lost his money. She also cited an account when she disposed of the drugs she saw, which prompted the Korean to hurt her,” Marcelo said.

The suspect has undergone inquest proceedings on charges of violating the violence against women and children law and the Child Abuse Law. Additional drug cases were filed against him.