| Submit your comments on this article |
| Korea |
| Tunneling for a Brew |
| 2003-09-04 |
| Two South Koreans have been detained on suspicion of digging a tunnel to smuggle more than $1.5 million worth of beer and wine out of a U.S. military base in central Seoul, customs officials said on Thursday. They said the two men opened a cafe — called the "U-Turn Espresso Coffee Shop" — as a front. A tunnel led from there to a cargo container inside the base 20 yards away. "An anonymous caller notified police of the smuggling ring operations two months ago, and the two leaders were detained on Monday," customs spokesman Cho Min-ho told Reuters. He said the suspects removed 58,000 boxes of beer and 4,000 cases of wine worth about $1.7 million. The alcohol was sold on the black market. Of course. "No American soldiers were found to be involved in the operations yet," said Ji Gwang-ho, an official at the South Korean Customs Service, by telephone. Most likely the inside contact will be a local national civilian working for the BX or Services Division. Cho said the tunnel had been built with a slight incline and equipped with rollers so the boxes of drink could be easily removed. Not bad, but doesn’t come close to the Phillipines. Back in the day, before the volcano blew and we left, they were building a new base exchange. During construction of the building, an inspector discovered a tunnel installed by the contractor from the warehouse area to the outside. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #2 That's a whole lotta booze. |
| Posted by: raptor 2003-9-4 4:50:02 PM |
| #1 Nice inventory control.... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-9-4 1:02:58 PM |