My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 217

“Is that possible?”

“Well, it’s not impossible. China has surprisingly strong female power.”

“Excuse me?”

“I told you, when profiling, you have to think differently for each country and culture.”

Cultural differences affect people’s behavior patterns more than you think. Even if they are the same serial killer, their behavior patterns are different for Koreans, Americans, Europeans, and Southeast Asians.

“In that respect, the treatment of women in China is much more equal than in Korea.”

“Equal?”

“To be precise, under the Communist Party, all human beings can be said to be equal.”

Looking at the gender equality index, Korea scores lower than China. Does that mean that women in Korea live poorly and men live well? No.

The trap here is that the standard isn’t the difference between countries, but the difference between men and women within each country.

In short, both men and women in China live terribly under the system.

“Under the one-party dictatorship of the Communist Party, men and women are theoretically equal. That’s a fundamental aspect of Chinese culture.”

And in that system, the authority or power of women is actually recognized to a certain extent, perhaps even more so than in Korea.

In Korea, the father’s side of the family often holds more influence, while in China, the mother’s side can wield significant power.

“Of course, there are limits to the rise in the status of women within violent organizations.”

After all, violent organizations are typically dominated by masculine figures and behaviors.

“Ah, so that’s why you said that corporate-style violent organizations need to change their approach.”

“That’s right.”

But if it becomes a company, the difference between men and women doesn’t matter as much on paper. However, that doesn’t mean that male members who are accustomed to the existing masculine order would readily accept being controlled by a female boss.

“I understand the situation. So, they must be keeping a low profile.”

If their leadership were exposed, they’d be at a higher risk of attack precisely because they are women.

“Yes, that explains their conflicting behavior so far.”

They’re being more secretive than necessary, while simultaneously making bold moves, like targeting the police and their families, to assert their presence.

“The more threatened people feel, the more aggressively they react.”

If they don’t perceive a threat, they remain indifferent, but when threatened, they tend to overreact to neutralize it.

The reason North Korea threatens to turn Seoul into a ‘sea of fire’ whenever tensions rise is a perfect example. However, North Korea lacks the capability or resources to actually do so. They could fire shells at Seoul, causing significant damage, but that would trigger their own destruction.

“Well, there’s a saying that a barking dog doesn’t bite.”

The same applies to dogs. A dog about to bite will growl softly. A dog that barks loudly is simply warning you to stay away.

“So, the boss of the Gangryong Clan is making a fuss to protect themselves.”

“That seems to be the case. They may also be planning an escape to China if things go south.”

“But even with all this, it will be difficult to identify and track down the female boss, right? The moment you identify her, she’ll try to have you killed.”

What might be a minor inconvenience for one person can be a life-threatening situation for another. That’s just how life is.

“I know. Directly targeting that woman would be suicidal. Especially considering the circumstances, and the team leader’s theory that they were dispatched from the Black Society [Triads],”

Park Do-joon said seriously.

“So, I think it’s crucial to sever their connections first.”

“But how?”

“From what I’ve observed, something is brewing within the Gangryong Clan. It seems planned, and it likely involves drugs.”

“Drugs?”

“Yes.”

Park Do-joon calmly shared his thoughts.

“The initial incident where the Gangryong Clan killed a police officer was drug-related. This strongly suggests they’re involved in drug distribution.”

If they weren’t dealing drugs, there would be no reason to target the police.

“Oh, now that you mention it, you’re right. I was so focused on the police murder case that I completely overlooked the drug angle.”

The team leader was taken aback.

“But even if the police are distracted, it doesn’t mean they’ve stopped distributing drugs.”

“Yes, you’re right. They must be continuing their drug operations.”

“This time, they treated all the members of the organization to a lot of alcohol. This usually happens for one of two reasons.”

“One is to reward them for their hard work after completing a task. The other is to boost morale in preparation for something big.”

“I believe it’s the latter in this case.”

“Yes? Why?”

“Giving alcohol to all the members of the organization suggests they aren’t anticipating an external attack.”

If it were a conflict between organizations, if the Gangryong Clan was eliminating a rival, it would make sense. But there isn’t any organization in Korea that could realistically challenge the Gangryong Clan.

Moreover, this is Daerim-dong. Small gangs might form there, but no one would dare to provoke the Gangryong Clan and start a war.

“In other words, it’s not a conflict between organizations.”

If that were the case, the police would have noticed, even if they weren’t actively investigating. Chinese gang wars tend to be brutal, often resulting in numerous hospitalizations with severe injuries.

“And there haven’t been any recent signs of unusual activity on that front.”

There’s been no accomplishment significant enough to warrant such a large-scale celebration.

“Simply disposing of existing drugs isn’t something to celebrate.”

For one, it’s not something that can be sold all at once, and if they announced it, there might be demands for profit sharing.

“But if they’re facing a significant risk, they might distribute drugs to boost morale.”

“Dangerous, like what?”

“First of all, it’s not a conflict.”

They can’t afford a conflict. If they engage in group assaults and murders, the police SWAT team could be deployed.

The protection money they collect daily? That wouldn’t cover the cost of the alcohol.

Even if it’s relatively cheap, it’s still a bar with female staff.

It would cost at least 300,000 won per person, totaling 24 million won for 80 people.

There aren’t many situations where they’d spend that much money at once to boost morale. It has to be something incredibly dangerous and valuable at the same time.

“Drugs…”

“That’s right.”

Aside from drugs, it’s hard to imagine another reason to spend so much money on the organization’s members in the current circumstances.

“Drugs… Well, that was the problem from the beginning.”

The initial investigation started with drugs.

“I have to start from scratch again.”

Drugs, in a quantity that justifies spending over 24 million won to boost morale.

“It must be at least hundreds of kilograms.”

Park Do-joon was reviewing the existing drug cases with Lee Ji-soo.

“They’re mobilizing all the members of the organization to transport that? Isn’t that excessive?”

“Normally, it would be. But if it’s coming from somewhere else, the situation changes.”

“Somewhere else?”

“It’s not easy to smuggle that much drugs from China.”

China is extremely strict when it comes to drugs. Because of their history of national decline due to opium [Opium Wars], they have a zero-tolerance policy.

In fact, most drug dealers face the death penalty if caught. The only exceptions are those with power who manage to avoid punishment.

Of course, that doesn’t mean China is entirely drug-free. Despite the strict security, drugs are still secretly distributed within the country.

“But it’s unlikely they’d send a large quantity to Korea from there.”

“Then?”

“It’s probably Japan.”

“Japan?”

“Most of the drugs consumed in Korea come through Japan.”

People often assume that all illicit goods originate from China, but surprisingly, the drug distribution network relies more on Japan.

In reality, there is some flow of drugs into China as well. China has a significant drug consumption rate, regardless of the severe penalties.

“Then how are they bringing it in?”

“It must be the Yakuza [Japanese organized crime syndicate].”

It’s widely known that the main sources of income for the Japanese Yakuza are pachinko [Japanese pinball gambling] and drugs.

“If it were coming from China, there’d be no need to provide alcohol and women to boost morale like that.”

The members of the organization would be miserable if they heard it, but they are seen as expendable. Violent organizations believe they’ve fulfilled their obligations by providing food and shelter.

In fact, Korean violent organizations act important and swagger around, but the lower-ranking members receive ridiculously small wages, barely enough to survive.

“So it’s not coming from the Black Society.”

Their actions reveal their mindset. The fact that they’re boosting morale with alcohol suggests a very large and risky deal. Among Korean violent organizations, none are powerful enough to pose a threat to the Gangryong Clan.

“That leaves the Yakuza. And a particularly high-risk Yakuza at that.”

“What do you mean by high-risk?”

“Only a small fraction of the Yakuza are involved in drug trafficking, even within Japan.”

Only Yakuza with extreme tendencies handle drugs, even within their own organization.

“And I don’t know how they’re transporting it, but I suspect they’re bringing in a massive quantity of drugs.”

The problem is figuring out their method.

“And the biggest issue is that the Gangryong Clan is planning to betray them.”

“Yes? What do you mean?”

“Of course, drug deals always involve tension between the involved organizations. But there’s no reason for as many as 80 members of the organization to be so on edge.”

Only then did Lee Ji-soo understand Park Do-joon’s reasoning.

“Are you saying that the Gangryong Clan is planning to double-cross them during this drug deal?”

“That’s highly likely. I don’t know the specifics of their internal situation.”

But the key point is that the Gangryong Clan is planning to eliminate them this time.

“Even if they succeed, they’ll make hundreds of billions of won in profit, but the other party won’t be easily defeated.”

Of course, they’ll resist. And winning that fight will require a major confrontation.

“Is that possible?”

“It’s not impossible. Consider the amount of drugs that enter Korea every year.”

News reports about hundreds of billions of won worth of drugs being smuggled are quite common. Since only a small fraction of these shipments are intercepted and reported, it’s impossible to know the true extent of drug circulation in the market.

“Korea is often called a drug-free country, but it lost that status long ago.”

To be precise, no organization officially grants ‘drug-free’ status. However, if the number of drug addicts remains below a certain percentage of the population, a country is considered relatively drug-free.”