Nigerian Drug Ringleader Extradited To South Korea

A Nigerian leader of an international drug ring that led to the arrest of 12 South Koreans abroad will be extradited to Korea from China later Wednesday to face drug smuggling and other charges, officials said.

Obioha Frank Chinedu, 41, is accused of smuggling cocaine and hemp carried by South Korean travelers, mostly young women, who were enticed by Chinedu’s offers to pay all of their travel expenses, Yonhap News Wednesday reported quoting officials at the Ministry of Justice.

The 12 Koreans _ 10 women and two men _ were arrested in Britain, the Netherlands, Brazil and Japan, and were sentenced to between three and five years and a half in jail. Prosecutors believe Chinedu’s arrest will help reduce sentences for the imprisoned Koreans.

“He use a common tactic by drug rings: ”If you pass customs, I will give you money for travel”, Jin Kyung-joon, an official at the ministry’s international criminal affairs division, was quoted as saying.

The suspect fled overseas with a forged passport after prosecutors launched an investigation in 2002. He was arrested the following year at an airport in Frankfurt, Germany, for drug possession, but despite Korean prosecutors’ request for extradition, he was transferred to Denmark, where another smuggling case had emerged involving a Korean as part of Chinedu’s operation.

Chinedu escaped the Aarhus prison while awaiting trial in 2004, resurfacing in China where he was detained at Korea’s request in 2007. A Chinese court ordered his extradition to Korea.

Officials said he approached the Koreans as an American businessman and smuggled 30 kilograms of cocaine and 60 kilograms of hemp at a plant that can be used to make cloth, paper as well as drugs.