What gets me is that the ROK authorities did not jail this Chinese fisherman, but instead just booked him and let him go:
This photo taken on June 24, 2016, shows a Chinese fishing boat at a port in Incheon, west of Seoul. The Coast Guard seized the boat the previous day that allegedly operated illegally near the inter-Korean maritime border. (Yonhap
The captain of a Chinese fishing boat was arrested on Friday over allegedly operating near the inter-Korean maritime border and using an illegal drug, the South Korean Coast Guard said.
Coast guard officers found methamphetamine inside the boat that they seized in waters off Socheong Island in Incheon, west of Seoul, the previous day.
On Thursday, they confiscated 0.12 gram of the drug and an inhaler from the ship’s pilothouse after taking it to a coast guard station in Incheon. During an investigation into the captain, whose name was withheld, the 48-year-old man confessed that he had bought them shortly before the boat left the port of Donggang in China’s Liaoning Province around 5 p.m. on June 9, they said.
The captain, who purchased the drug and the inhaler from an acquaintance for 240 yuan and 20 yuan respectively, is suspected of inhaling the stimulant three times when the boat sailed near the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the inter-Korean de facto western maritime border, this month.
He has also administered the drug about 10 times in China since last year, they said. “I used the drug in secret at the pilothouse to beat fatigue,” he was quoted as saying. He tested positive in a urine test for the drug.
The Coast Guard plans to book the Chinese man without physical detention on charges of suspected violation of the illegal fishing control law concerning South Korea’s exclusive economic zone. In addition, it will book him on suspicion of violating the drug control law. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but I maintain that the ROK should jail these guys and auction off their boats. This would be needed to deterrent to stop the illegal fishing.
Hmm… The headline is a little misleading. Yeah, technically the captain had some meth on him, but that’s a personal use amount. The headline made it sound like a Chinese fishing boat was smuggling Fatty Kim’s “Crystal Blue Persuasion”
As I understand maritime law, if he was more than 12 miles from shore, Korea can’t bust him for the drugs… as he is in international waters where the laws of Korea do not apply… though the laws of the ship registry country (likely China) do.
EEZs have sovereign rights but are not sovereign waters… meaning the country controls what is below the sea out to 200 miles but cannot control what is on the sea more than 12.
Stealing fish: enforceable.
Personal drug use: dont think so.
If you ever want to toot some stomped-on chink crank in international waters, consult a maritime lawyer first… as I could be wrong.
Also, be a man and take more than 120 milligrams, Wannabe Pablo Escobar.
sfasdfsadf
8 years ago
The article says he admitted to purchasing the drugs in China. If the Chinese government prosecutes him after repatriation you would have to expect that the Chinese government would impose a harsher punishment than the ROK.
Hmm… The headline is a little misleading. Yeah, technically the captain had some meth on him, but that’s a personal use amount. The headline made it sound like a Chinese fishing boat was smuggling Fatty Kim’s “Crystal Blue Persuasion”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH-CWq6jVeo
As I understand maritime law, if he was more than 12 miles from shore, Korea can’t bust him for the drugs… as he is in international waters where the laws of Korea do not apply… though the laws of the ship registry country (likely China) do.
EEZs have sovereign rights but are not sovereign waters… meaning the country controls what is below the sea out to 200 miles but cannot control what is on the sea more than 12.
Stealing fish: enforceable.
Personal drug use: dont think so.
If you ever want to toot some stomped-on chink crank in international waters, consult a maritime lawyer first… as I could be wrong.
Also, be a man and take more than 120 milligrams, Wannabe Pablo Escobar.
The article says he admitted to purchasing the drugs in China. If the Chinese government prosecutes him after repatriation you would have to expect that the Chinese government would impose a harsher punishment than the ROK.