Pharmaceutical Companies In The Drug Trade
DAKAR, 20 February 2009 - Criminal networks are setting up fake
pharmaceutical companies in Korea to transit substances used to make street Heroin, according to the International Narcotics Control Board’s 2008 Annual Report. The companies forge import permits to illegally import morphine, which is usually used in the medical industry to treat severe pain.
What is Heroin?
Heroin is an illicit drug made by synthesising two acetyl groups to the molecule morphine found in the plant opium poppy. It is used as a recreational drug for the transcendent relaxation and intense euphoria it induces. Tolerance quickly
develops, and users need more of the drug to achieve the same effects. Its
popularity with recreational drug users, compared to morphine, reportedly stems from its perceived different effects. In particular, users report an intense rush, an acute transcendent state of euphoria that occurs while diacetylmorphine is being metabolized into 6-monoacetylmorphine (6-MAM) and morphine in the brain.
Jiseok Seo and Seo Pharmaceuticals: Biography
1969: Seo Pharmaceuticals opened by Youngsun Seo in Seoul, South Korea. It is
believed to be a legitimate Pharmaceutical company that produced morphine and penicillin.
1983: Jiseok Seo, 16 year old son of Youngsun was caught selling his father’s morphine on the streets for recreational use and was thrown in a correction facility.
1989: Youngsun dies of a heart attack and Jiseok takes over his father’s company.
Jiseok stopped selling Penicillin and used all of the profits to buy morphine. A large proportion of this morphine was manufactured into Heroin and sold to the street gangs and the black market.
1991: Jiseok’s daughter, Joohyun Seo was born. Around this time, Jiseok stopped manufacturing and selling Heroin and the company started trading penicillin again.
1993: Jiseok’s daughter Joohyun was kidnapped by the drug cartels in order to force Jiseok to continue creating heroin.
1994: Police declare Joohyun dead after finding an unidentifiable body of a 2 year old girl in the Yeongsan River.
1996: Jiseok restarted manufacturing and trading Heroin.
1997-2002: The heroin trade was estimated to bring Jiseok over $10 million USD profit each year. Jiseok forms a partnership with Kim Industries, Choi
Corporations, and Jung Incorporated.
2003: Police gathered sufficient evidence to raid Seo Pharmaceuticals. However,
raids at the company proved nothing and subsequent raids on Kim, Choi and Jung yielded no success. Jiseok sued the Korean National Police Agency for defamation.
2004: Several high ranking officers were found to have taken bribes from Jiseok, including the Chief Superintendent who was in command of the whole operation.
One national newspaper reports, ‘If all the corruption allegations are true, it would appear that Seo Jiseok has more police offers protecting him than the President of Korea.’
2006-2008: The U.S Branch of CHERUB (an intelligence agency that employs
orphaned children from age 10-18) began Project Parasite and sent Tiffany Hwang, Sunny Lee and Yoona Lee to investigate the three partnered companies. The agents uncovered several drug cartels in the area and provided evidence to apprehend them.
2008-2010: Jiseok’s daughter Joohyun was found working as a part of CHERUB
under the name Seohyun Jeon. Using this advantage, CHERUB collaborated with SME Unit and sent Seohyun over to live with her father and to gather information.
Seohyun bugged Jiseok’s house and vehicles but was unable to find solid evidence that Jiseok was manufacturing Heroin in his company. Agents Isak Simmons, Hyoyeon Han, Kangta Ahn, and Shindong Hee were sent to infiltrate Seo Pharmaceuticals and the local drug cartels.
2010: Agent Hwang was sent to Yeongsan for a security mission, but discovers a
lead that Kwon Corp (who was previously thought to be uninvolved) was involved in the manufacture of heroin—however no evidence that was obtained was
sufficient enough to hold in court.
Mission Request
In early 2012, Seohyun and Kangta found more evidence that Kim Industries and Kwon Corp may have a connection to the illegal aspects of Seo Pharmaceuticals.
The Korean Intelligence Agency requests that Agent Tiffany Hwang reprise her role and infiltrate the family orientated Kim Industries and through her previous alias, investigate Kwon Corp.
Mission Plan
Agent Hwang will return to Korea and infiltrate three parties: Kim Industries, Kwon Corp and Leeteuk’s Drug Cartel. Agent Hwang will be staying at Kim Taeyeon’s apartment under the guise of house arrest in order to get closer to the target and determine whether Kim Industries is involved. In order for this to occur, the agent will socialise and intoxicate the target so that a fake marriage certificate can be easily arranged. Agent Hwang is also to use her fabricated pyromaniac history to join one of the local gangs that has destroyed half of Seo
Pharmaceuticals. Through the agent’s previous relationship with Yuri Kwon, she will attempt to find whether Kwon Corp is involved with the Heroin trade.
Primary Objectives
Agent Hwang has been selected to befriend the heir of Kim Industries, Kim Taeyeon and the heir of Kwon Corp, Kwon Yuri. Since the agent has already met the target’s friendship circle in a previous mission, they are expected to reprise their previous role and act accordingly. The primary objective is to find concrete evidence on whether Kim Industries and Kwon Corp are involved in the heroin trade. Kim Taeyeon works for Seo Pharmaceuticals; the objective is also to find out whether the heir herself is the liaison between Kim Industries and Seo
Pharmaceuticals. If the agent is successful in joining the local drug cartel, she is to assist Agent Kangta Ahn in gathering information.
Secondary Objective
Due to the agent’s previous mission, they have already befriended Kim Taeyeon’s social circle. The agent is asked to find any evidence of Choi Corporations and Jung Incorporated being involved.
This mission has been classified as MID to HIGH RISK. All agents are
reminded of their right to refuse to undertake this mission and to withdraw from it at any time. Agents will be at risk of violence and illegal drugs. Agents are reminded that they will be expulsed from SME immediately if they willingly use Heroin or any other Class A drug.
***
“So when does the plane leave?” Tiffany grinned as she put the mission briefing down. Finally, something interesting.
“You’re definitely going then?” Sunny asked.
“Of course, this is the one mission that I can’t put down,” Tiffany said
remembering back to when she was fourteen. Project Parasite was one of the most important missions she had ever been on—it was also one of the most successful ones. “Are you?”
“Yeah, brings back memories doesn’t it? Only this time I’m going as your mission controller,” Sunny said showing Tiffany her mission briefing.
“Aw, you get stuck on the tech side of things. Bad luck,” Tiffany said sympathetically.
Mission controlling involved working behind the scenes and monitoring bugs and cameras. Basically doing all of the research. It was extremely important, one mistake could blow the entire operation up—but it was also dead boring.
“Actually, I wouldn’t mind a break from the front lines. Especially after the insanity in Japan,” Sunny reasoned.
She headed to one of the many filing cabinets in the room and rifled through the manila folders.
“Ah! Here we are,” Sunny said as she pulled out the correct folder, “Now it says here that Seohyun, Hyoyeon, Kangta and Isak are already in Korea. Wow, they’ve been there for almost four years now. We are going to be infiltrating a street gang led by Park Leeteuk. Yoona and her mission controller Tony An are going to be infiltrating the rival gang, led by Kim Kibum. For the most part we won’t be interacting with Yoona or Seohyun, but the plan involves you working with Kangta, Hyoyeon and Isak—are you ok with that?”
Tiffany nodded. She’s known Isak and Hyoyeon for a long time and she had worked with Kangta in the past.
“Here’s your target’s file,” Sunny said passing Tiffany a folder.
Tiffany stared at the picture on the page disbelief, “How old is she again? Because I don’t think it’s legal for me to marry a 15 year old...”
Sunny laughed, “She’ll be 23 in a month—that’s older than you.”
“Seriously? You’re kidding right?” Tiffany asked as she looked at the picture. The girl had wavy brown hair with distinctly large eyes and an innocently childish face.
Sunny shook her head, “Read it. She’s older than you.”
“Oh this is going to be awkward...So when we do we leave for Korea?”
“Not Korea, Las Vegas,” Sunny corrected her.
“Vegas? Why am I going to Vegas?” Tiffany frowned in confusion.
“Because that’s where your targets are heading. Viva Las Vegas!”
Two Days Later...
Tiffany was ready to pull her hair out. Several hours into her mission and she was already failing. Taeyeon was supposed to be on a tour in the Grand Canyon now, but she only found Sooyoung and Jessica—Taeyeon was nowhere in sight. The trio did not make reservations beforehand so Tiffany had no idea where she went.
“God I suck at this…” Tiffany grumbled.
Although seeing Jessica had been an odd experience. If it weren’t for the photos on the files she read, Tiffany would’ve sworn that perky brunette was not the ice-princess that she knew. I guess long time exposure to Sooyoung without Yuri to balance out is influencing her, Tiffany thought in amusement. Although Jessica seemed happy enough, fate had a funny way of working.
As Tiffany walked down the streets of Vegas, she started to get more and more restless. There are over a hundred hotels and casinos in Vegas. There was no way she would find Taeyeon here.
Tiffany walked into the nearest club, intending to just let loose and enjoy herself before her superiors find out that she lost the target. As she approached the bar, her eyes met with a gorgeous blonde woman with mesmerising brown eyes. Screw the mission, she was going to get laid tonight. The tired agent turned to the bartender and ordered two cocktails before bringing her attention to the innocent-looking beauty.
“Hey beautiful, do you believe in love at first sight or should I come back a second time?” Tiffany flirted openly, internally cringing at how cheesy the words
sounded—at least she could finally tell Yoona that she did her stupid dare and used a pick-up line they found on the internet.
“Uh...I...Um...Hi,” the blonde stuttered in a familiar accent. She sounded like Hyoyeon when Korean-born agent first moved to America.
Tiffany chuckled at how alarmed the woman looked, “Are you Korean?” She asked slowly.
The other nodded as the bartender set her drinks down. Internally, Tiffany sighed in relief, the chances of the woman understanding her stupid first line just went down.
“I’m Tiffany, what’s your name?” The Korean words sounded a little strange coming from her lips, it had been a while since she had used her ethnic language.
“I...I’m K-Kim Tae-T-Taey-yeon,” She stuttered.
Tiffany froze. It took all of her training to stop her from dropping her jaw like an idiot. Hours of searching and her target was sitting right in front of her. How ironic. Maybe the Fates are on her side this time. Taeyeon looked a little different than the picture on the mission briefing—perhaps it was the make-up and hair dye, but the subtle child-like features were still noticeable if she bothered to look.
“Nice to meet you Taeyeon-shi,” Tiffany grinned as Taeyeon took a drink from her glass. Well, she might as well have some fun with phase one because the rest of the mission was going to be rough.
Conversation between them flowed easily. Surprisingly they shared many of the same hobbies and interests. So after a half hour of talking, it was simple enough to pull Taeyeon up for a dance. The problem laid in Tiffany’s concentration. After several drinks, her mind was starting to get a little fuzzy. She tried to focus on the mission; truly she did, but the moment Taeyeon’s hands brushed against her backside, all logical thought went out the window.
Despite being half a head shorter than Tiffany, the Korean woman is pressed up against her back. Arms sliding over her toned stomach, with her hips swaying to the beat of the music. ‘Well this is an interesting development’, Tiffany thought in amusement, it seems that Taeyeon grew confident when drinking and took
initiative—she liked that.
“Tippani-shi,” Taeyeon murmured into her ear, her hands wandering down Tiffany’s back.
Tiffany took a sharp breath, “Yes?”
“You have a sexy butt,” Taeyeon giggled, and just like that, the atmosphere completely dissipated.
“Yah!” Tiffany turned around and playfully slapped Taeyeon’s arm before pulling the elder girl towards the bar. Another round of drinks was in order.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!”
Tiffany’s eyes flew open as a deafening scream assaulted her ears.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!” Tiffany agreed as the sight of a naked woman greeted her. Oh no, oh god no. I’m supposed to be on a mission! Fuck! Tiffany thought as her mind went into panic mode.
“What are you doing here!?” The woman shrieked.
“What are you doing here!? This is my hotel room!” Tiffany protested automatically. She looked around, oh good. It really was her hotel room.
“Oh god! Oh god! Oh god! Fucking god...Chairman Lee is going to kill me,”
Tiffany muttered, her hands refused to stop fidgeting as she worried over what this would do to her spot at SME. It was the third mission in a row that she had messed up in.
It didn’t take long for Tiffany to realise that she had slept with Taeyeon-- that calmed her down a little. It meant that the mission wasn’t in jeopardy—in fact, it actually made things easier to sort out...The problem was the tattoo. All agents had to follow a protocol, and tattoos were a definite no no. Tattoos stood out too much
and could be used to identify an agent. A red TAE tattoo encased in a heart on her left arm would definitely stand out.
As Tiffany stood in the bathroom of the hotel with the tap running, the events of the previous night flashed through her mind. Discarded clothes, entwined limbs, gentle caresses and lustful moans. Her hands griped the edge of the sink tightly, her reflection staring straight back at her. She remembered the last night clearly, a little too clearly—sometimes she envied the ones who can’t remember. The ones that forget all the stupid things they’ve done.
They stumbled around the dark, eventually reaching the bedroom. As Taeyeon pushed her onto the bed, Tiffany stopped her wandering hands.
“Are you sure?” The question was completely unnecessary but it had been drilled into Tiffany’s head to ask—after that little fiasco a couple of years ago when an eighteen year old decided to blame Tiffany for date rape in order to get out of a sticky situation with her boyfriend. Needless to say, Tiffany was not amused.
Taeyeon swatted Tiffany’s hands away and laughed, “What else are we supposed to do on our honeymoon?
***
“Tiffany Saranghaeyo,” Taeyeon murmured, nuzzling against Tiffany’s chest as she basked in the afterglow.
“I love you too Taeyeon,” Tiffany whispered in her native tongue, her arms wrapped around the petite woman as she came down from her high.
“No...It’s not possible,” Tiffany denied as she splashed water onto her face. It wasn’t possible for two people to fall in love within a few hours of meeting each other. They were both drunk and out of their minds, there was nothing more to it.
There can’t be.
***
When Taeyeon left the hotel cafe, Tiffany pulled out her cell phone, twenty miss calls and fifteen messages, she was in for it...Her mission controller picked up after the third ring.
“Where the hell are you!?” Sunny’s voice screamed into her ear, “I lost contact with you after midnight, my uncle’s going to have my head on a platter if you disappear!”
“You want the good news, or the bad news?” Tiffany asked apprehensively. Sunny was already pissed, that was not good.
“Just tell me what’s going on. And hope that I don’t kill you,” Sunny said flatly.
“Well... Good news is I found Taeyeon, and there would be no need for those fake marriage certificates. Bad news is...well...I kinda got stuck with some real
marriage certificates.”
“...I think my signal is jumbled. WHAT did you just say!?”
“I...uh...got married with Taeyeon for real?” Tiffany said, although it came out as more of a question.
“...Sometimes I wonder how you managed to be called one of the best agents of all time.”
“Hey! I take offence to that,” Tiffany said jokingly, she really had no idea how she got that title either, “At least I reduced our costs by not needing those fake
certificates anymore.”
“Yeah, but we’re gonna have to work on a divorce when you’re done...Actually, the Kim’s are a RICH family...This might not turn out bad after all.”
“Sunny!”
“What? I’m just being practical. Anyway, Kangin says that Taeyeon’s going to be flying back to Korea soon. Get back to HQ and we’ll modify the plans a little.”
“Alright then. Over and out.”
One Week Later...
“Isak, Hyoyeon,” Tiffany greeted her old friends. It had been a while since she had seen either of them.
“Hey kid, I heard you’ve been causing trouble back home,” Isak grinned as she pulled Tiffany into a hug.
“And I thought I wanted to marry early—you beat me to it,” Hyoyeon said playfully waving the authentic certificate in her face.
“Yah!” Tiffany slapped Hyoyeon’s arm, “I was not in my right mind.”
“No kidding,” Isak snickered, “Married to your target—really married. Now that’s a first.”
“Oh ha ha, are you guys done yet?” Tiffany deadpanned.
“Ok, ok. Now first order of business, you need to scout out the area that Taeyeon lives in. Her birthday is coming up soon, and that’s when we’re going to be
dropping in. Hyoyeon and I are going to be acting as your ‘parole officers’. You’re going to be living with her, and I know that you’re twenty two, but stay safe and use protection—
“—Go to hell,” Tiffany interrupted with a glare as Isak and Hyoyeon burst into laughter
“S-sorry... i-it’s j-just...My c-cous-sin...” Hyoyeon could go no further as she dissolved into hysterics.
“Oh fine, laugh at the poor idiot that got married while drunk. Ha –bloody- ha.”
“Why are you so upset? It’s not like it’s permanent,” Isak pointed out, “You’ll just
“Why are you so upset? It’s not like it’s permanent,” Isak pointed out, “You’ll just