My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 409

“In that situation, they’d think they could cover it up by banding together and applying pressure.”

“Don’t you watch the news?”

“It’s not that they don’t watch it, it’s that they *can’t*.”

By now, they’d all be too busy being investigated to even think about it.

“They’ll realize it after a day or two of seeing the news, though.”

The military can’t just let this slide.

“Besides, as you said, this kind of malicious behavior undermines the military itself. If they hadn’t been caught, maybe, but now that they have, even the Ministry of National Defense can’t do anything about it.”

“If they hadn’t been caught…?”

Lee Ji-soo tilted her head at that. The chief, who had been listening quietly, gave a bitter smile.

“A senior officer messing with a junior officer’s wife happens more often than you think in the military.”

“Really?”

Lee Ji-soo was shocked by that. The atrocity she was referring to was drugging a junior officer’s wife.

In the military, a husband’s rank often dictates his wife’s social standing. Even if the wife of a field-grade officer [Major, Lieutenant Colonel, or Colonel] is much younger, the wife of a company-grade officer [Lieutenant, Captain, or Major] has to call her ‘Madam’ and is sometimes expected to help with tasks like kimchi-making or household chores.

“But usually, rank follows age. No matter how talented an officer is, they can’t become a general in their thirties.”

“Is that the problem?”

“That’s *a* problem. How young and attractive do you think a company-grade officer’s wife in her twenties looks to a field-grade officer in his forties?”

“Don’t tell me…”

“That’s right. There are more guys than you think who are so horny they’ll try to get their hands on her no matter what.”

Of course, most of the time they fail. Because no matter how much of a superior the husband is, there’s still a line.

“But if they’re constantly gaslighting her, her resistance will weaken.”

Park Do-joon said with a sigh.

“So, there are actually quite a few cases where a superior and a subordinate’s wife are having an affair.”

They just keep it quiet.

“And the military doesn’t really punish this properly.”

“They don’t punish it?”

“Military law isn’t fair.”

What would happen if a field-grade officer messed with a company-grade officer’s wife in the military? Most people would think the guy who did it should be stripped of his uniform.

“But usually, the company-grade officer bears the brunt of the disadvantage.”

“Really?”

“Usually, they get retaliatory orders to remote areas.”

They stick them in some frontline outpost [GOP – General Outpost] so they can’t resist. Even if they sue, it’s difficult because they can’t get out often once they’re in a place like the GOP.

“Or they deliberately stick the husband in a remote area so they can freely have an affair.”

So, there are a lot of cases where they actually get divorced.

“Even if they get caught… the power a field-grade officer wields over a company-grade officer in the military is significant.”

Even if they feel wronged, they can’t resist a field-grade officer or a general. The only solution is to be prepared to resign and fight it out with a civil lawsuit.

“But since he’s a powerful guy anyway…”

Since there’s no punishment related to adultery in criminal law anymore, that’s the only way to punish him. But even if you get caught up in a civil lawsuit for adultery, the perpetrator suffers no damage other than a slight disadvantage in promotion.

Of course, if the victim grits their teeth, makes it an issue, and sets out to ruin the other person’s life, things might change, but most of them just get divorced and try to end it by leaving the military with a shudder.

Even that disadvantage can be covered up if you bribe well and suck up to the higher-ups. In the Korean military, the crime of not looking good to the higher-ups is greater than the crime of messing with a subordinate’s wife.

“Wow, crazy! So they’re targeting subordinates’ wives? What is this, some kind of twisted fantasy?”

“That’s reality.”

Park Do-joon shrugged his shoulders and said.

“And if you add drugs to the mix, resistance is virtually impossible.”

There wasn’t a single couple at the orgy. They were all wives of colleagues or subordinates. The method was simple. A woman addicted to drugs approaches a woman targeted by a field-grade officer, offering drugs as a condition. Then, she gets her addicted to drugs under the guise of having tea or socializing.

After that, the woman is addicted to drugs and can’t report it, and the field-grade officer rapes her in exchange for supplying drugs.

That’s how they created their own organization and did all sorts of dirty things inside it.

Of course, someone who has been addicted to drugs for a long time won’t confess, but fortunately, someone who hasn’t been addicted for long confessed what happened to them, so the truth was revealed quickly.

“These guys are insane. I feel sorry for the company-grade couples.”

“How nice would it be if there were only decent people in the world.”

Even the house where this happened wasn’t theirs. They drugged the wife of a newly arrived major and then held an orgy, or rather, a gang rape in this case, as a welcoming ceremony.

The major heard the news and tried to desert with a firearm, but the soldiers caught him and barely stopped him.

“But why did they catch these guys? Oh, of course, I’m not saying we shouldn’t throw these guys in jail. But won’t Vanilla be wary?”

“Of course. They’ll probably tighten the drug distribution network for a while.”

“So….”

“Then there will be guys who rebel from below. Can’t the drug department read that flow?”

“Oh? Aha! So, it’s an opportunity to destroy the distribution network.”

“That’s right.”

Vanilla supplies half of the drugs in the Seoul metropolitan area. If they tighten their grip, there will definitely be guys showing abnormal signs. And if we crack down on them, we can wipe out the distribution network in a short period of time.

“That’s not the only problem.”

“Then?”

“The chaebols [large family-owned business conglomerates] aren’t going to talk anyway, are they?”

“That’s right.”

“Then we need other witnesses.”

“I guess so.”

The chaebol [large family-owned business conglomerates] figures are thoroughly playing the victim. Given that, we need to secure additional testimonies related to the drugs.

“If we have commissioned officers and victims, that’s enough to serve as witnesses.”

“Hmm, well, there’s not much they can do about it then.”

As Park Do-joon said, their only hope is for leniency once they’re caught—assuming they get caught in the first place. It’s not just gaslighting; they also committed crimes while addicting people to drugs.

“To think you’re even considering the supply line. As expected, I can trust Detective Park Do-joon.”

The section chief smiled at Park Do-joon’s words.

“How will the supply line be shaken?”

“Ah, Chinese organizations will become more active. If the supply decreases, it’ll be their chance to expand their market share.”

That’s not all. To get their fix, addicts will start poking around everywhere, looking for brokers who can provide a new supply.

“It’s actually difficult for us to catch the brokers who sell drugs.”

Because they use all sorts of methods, from drop-offs to drones, quick service, and standard delivery.

“But it’s not difficult for us to *become* brokers.”

If we spread some rumors online, we’ll be flooded with contacts. Then the police can just round them all up.

“And didn’t I tell you last time? Drug offenders have no loyalty to each other.”

When suffering from severe withdrawal, it’s like being dosed with truth serum. There are even rumors that truth serums actually contain a significant amount of drugs.

“They want to reduce their punishment by getting leniency and quickly go home to do drugs.”

Of course, they’ll blab about the people they used with and everyone else involved.

“And then the sales network will be shattered.”

“Yes, if we’re lucky, more than 50% will be shattered.”

‘If we’re even luckier, evidence about those shameless guys might surface.’

It’s not that the children of chaebols [large family-owned business conglomerates] never get punished for drug use, but what’s different about this case is that there are witnesses who voluntarily used drugs with them. In other words, we can only involve them if the guys who were caught first start talking.

However, in this case, the powerful families are interfering, and one guy is taking the fall, so they’re avoiding punishment.

“That’s definitely possible. I’ll make sure to tell the guys cracking down on drugs and the Chinese contacts.”

“Yes, then the market will probably shrink significantly.”

At least once it’s revealed that they’ve done drugs, it will be much easier for the police to track them. In fact, the police periodically crack down on drug offenders because something always turns up each time.

“But won’t Vanilla try to escape anyway?”

“No, they won’t escape. To be exact, they’ll only relocate, but they won’t leave Korea. From a business perspective, Korea is too big of a market.”

Park Do-joon said it as if it were obvious.

“Besides, this isn’t the first time this has happened, is it? The drug case a while ago ended up with them cutting off the tail [sacrificing a low-level member to protect the higher-ups].”

“That’s true. But this time, the direct delivery was caught, right?”

“That’s right. So they’re going to shrink back.”

“Aren’t they running away right now?”

“Of course, they’re excitedly preparing to relocate from their current location.”

That position isn’t important enough to take risks for. So they’ll be excitedly running away.

“But to escape, they have to come out.”

You can’t go in. But if they come out?

“Oh, that’s right?”

It’s not impossible to pounce the moment they come out.

“Other people are already guarding that place. So if they try to escape, we can just pounce on them.”

Park Do-joon smiled, knowing their plan.

Park Do-joon went to the site in Itaewon. And Joo Kwang-won, who was hiding there and blankly looking at the building, smiled when he saw Park Do-joon.

“Detective Park, thanks to you, we’ve made a big catch.”

“Ah, it’s not over yet. Is there any reaction?”

“Ah, no. No one has come down either.”

“What about other escape routes?”

“Fortunately, there weren’t any.”

Itaewon is an old downtown area, so there aren’t many buildings built well enough to have multiple escape routes. Moreover, most of those buildings only have one entrance and exit.

“Are there any windows or other ways out?”

“Yes, I’ve already checked everything. The police have been watching from all sides since that day.”

“Hmm.”

Park Do-joon tilted his head at those words.

“It’s the point where there should be some kind of reaction.”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

“The restaurant is closed, but they’re not thinking of escaping. Do they have something they’re confident in?”

They’ll definitely know that there was a problem at the place they delivered to. Nevertheless, the restaurant is closed, but they’re shamelessly not escaping and just staying put.

“Can’t we just go in?”

“It would be nice if we could, but that’s how Korean law is.”

The core entity investigating this case is the military. And the military usually doesn’t cooperate well with the police regarding their investigation records.

“Of course, since the case is a case and many civilians are involved, they’ll share the investigation records after some time.”

Anyway, the husband is a soldier, but the wives addicted to drugs are civilians. However, that time will take quite a while.

“But they’ll know it was delivered, right?”

“They’ll know. So that’s what’s strange.”

There’s no way they wouldn’t know that, so they’ll try to escape somehow. But the fact that they’re operating so naturally like that….

A Born Profiler