An Incheon court sentenced a 90-year-old woman to one year in prison on Monday for laundering profits derived from her son's drug trafficking operations.
The woman, whose identity has been withheld by local media, helped move 386 million won ($260,800) through a designated bank account. These transactions occurred over nine separate occasions between April 2020 and February 2022.
Court records show the woman acted under the direct instructions of her son, identified in reports as Song. Song is currently imprisoned in Cambodia following a conviction for trafficking methamphetamine into the country.
The court found evidence that the woman was aware the funds were illicit. She visited Cambodia five times in 2019 and was aware of her son's detention at that time.
"Her actions made it harder to trace illicit profits and contributed to the spread of narcotics, rendering the offence particularly serious," said Judge Wi Eun-suk of the Incheon district court.
Family involvement in drug proceeds
The investigation also extended to Song's daughter, according to reports from the Seoul-based Kyunghyang newspaper. Prosecutors charged her with receiving more than 600 million won of illicit funds and transferring 274 million won of that total.
The court ultimately acquitted the daughter of money laundering charges. The presiding judge found insufficient evidence to prove she possessed knowledge that the money was derived from narcotics trafficking.
In determining the one-year sentence, the court considered the defendant's age and her lack of any prior drug-related criminal record.
South Korean authorities are currently pursuing efforts to extradite Song from Cambodia.
