South Korea’s Government Joint Investigation Headquarters for Drug Crimes said on 10 April 2026 that it had arrested and indicted a 53-year-old Korean resident of Japan, a member of the Japanese yakuza group Kudokai, under the Narcotics Control Act.[1] He is accused of shipping about 636 kilograms of cannabis in a container that left Laem Chabang port in Thailand in early March and reached Incheon Port on 23 March.[1] Investigators said he bought the cannabis from a Thai drug-selling group and conspired with a Vietnamese organisation based in Ho Chi Minh City to sell part of it in South Korea through its network and re-export the rest to yakuza groups in Japan.[2] The headquarters announced the arrest and indictment after taking delivery of the container, which the account said had been moved to a warehouse on the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province, where officers detained him when he came to collect the cannabis.[3] MBN reported that he was arrested the day after the cannabis arrived at Incheon Port, when he went to a warehouse in Gyeonggi Province to collect it.[4]

The headquarters identified four Vietnamese organisation members who supplied the cannabis with him, requested arrest warrants for them and said it would seek Interpol red notices.[1] The Chosun Daily reported that the 636 kilograms were equivalent to what 1.27 million people could smoke at once and were valued at about 95.4 billion won.[1] The cannabis was compressed in vacuum-sealed packaging and sent as a full container load, in boxes hidden among clothing and shoes.[3] He communicated with the Vietnamese members on secure messengers using a Chinese-registered phone and paid for the cannabis in virtual currency.[1] The Korea Times reported that investigators found he also had plans to smuggle narcotics from Colombia.[5]

The investigation began in January with intelligence from the National Intelligence Service, and the container was tracked through cooperation between prosecutors, police, the coast guard and customs.[1] He served six years in prison in 2016 for keeping about 956 grams of methamphetamine imported from China for re-export to Japan and for importing a pistol and 19 rounds from Japan.[1] The Seoul Economic Daily reported that he was released in 2022 and that a kilogram of cannabis costs about 1 million won in Thailand against about 150 million won at retail in South Korea.[2]