South Korean ‘sugar cane killer’ extradited from Philippines over drug empire

Park Wang-yeol (centre), a South Korean national detained in the Philippines, arrives at Incheon International Airport in South Korea on Wednesday.

Photo: Yonhap/EPA A Philippine prison was supposed to contain Park Wang-yeol.

Instead, according to South Korean investigators, it became his office from which an alleged drug trafficking empire was run, complete with a “VIP” lifestyle, a Telegram alias and a girlfriend summoned to his cell on demand.

On Wednesday, after nine years of failed extradition attempts, that arrangement finally came to an end.

Bearded, silent and dressed in casual clothing, the 48-year-old arrived at Incheon International Airport near Seoul under escort by plain-clothes officers, his handcuffed, tattooed arms wrapped in black cloth.

Reporters shouted questions into the arrivals hall, but Park said nothing as officers guided him towards a waiting vehicle – an understated homecoming for one of South Korea’s most wanted men. “This is one of the most notorious cases,” said Lee Dong-un, a lawyer at Infinity Law Firm who previously headed the South Korean Justice Ministry’s international criminal department. “His extradition, although temporary, is quite significant.” Park is serving a 60-year sentence in the Philippines for the murder of three South Korean nationals in a sugar cane field outside Bacolod City in 2016.

The victims had fled their home country to escape prosecution over a pyramid scheme worth around 15 billion won (US$10 million).

They had also invested 720 million won in Park’s casino business.

He took the money, then took their lives.

The case became known in South Korea as the “Sugar Cane Field Murder”.

A farmer harvests sugar cane in the Philippines.

Park’s killing became known as the “Sugar Cane Field Murder” in South Korea.

Photo: AFP Arrested later that same year, Park proved difficult to contain.

He escaped custody twice – once in 2017 and again in 2019 while being transported from a court hearing – both times being recaptured and later sentenced to six decades behind bars.

But that sentence, according to investigators, was less a punishment than a change of address.

Park is accused of pivoting to large-scale drug trafficking after his imprisonment, reportedly operating under the alias “Jeonsegye” (“Worldwide”) on the Telegram messaging app to funnel narcotics into South Korea.

Drugs linked to his network flowed into a major domestic distribution ring known as the “Vatican Kingdom”, giving him a fair-si

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