NEWS
TWO SEOUL CUSTOMS OFFICIALS INDICTED OVER SEIZED WINE BRIBERY SCHEME
By Staff Reporter
3-8-2026
Source: Unsplash
Two senior investigation bureau officials at Seoul Customs have been formally indicted and detained on bribery charges over an alleged plot to divert confiscated luxury smuggled wine onto South Korea’s black market, according to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.
The pair, team-rank special judicial police within Seoul Customs Investigation Bureau, were tasked with anti‑smuggling intelligence and enforcement work, giving them oversight over seized import cargo.
Prosecutors alleged that they have hatched a “bottle‑swap” scheme: replacing premium confiscated wine stock with empty dummy display bottles, then pass the genuine bottles to an outside black market broker in exchange for cash kickbacks.
The case traces back to a large 2023 seizure of 379 smuggled wine bottles, falsely declared as grape juice shipments, with an overall market value of around WON500 million (USD370.000).
The haul included top‑tier French fine wine references such as Romanée‑Conti, some bottles retailing at WON36 million apiece on the open market. Investigators say the two officials targeted 88 high valued bottles for diversion.
The conspiracy ultimately collapsed. Significant portions of the seized consignment had to be returned to claimants due to statute‑of‑limitation rules, so no wine was ever actually handed over to the broker.
Even so, prosecutors maintain the customs pair demanded further illicit payments from the contact, prompting the broker to file a formal complaint to authorities, which blew open the affair.
Prosecutors filed custody indictment papers on 24 July, bringing charges under South Korea’s specific crimes law for bribery and brokerage of bribes.
The case has sent ripples through South Korea’s wine trade community, already alert to persistent parallel import and grey market risks.
Industry participants note that seized alcoholic goods are sometimes slated for destruction due to complex storage regulations, creating potential loopholes for corrupt manipulation by officials with physical control over warehouse stocks.
Customs authorities have announced an internal review of seized cargo storage and inventory check procedures in response to the scandal.
The two accused are now in detention awaiting trial.
(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)
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