My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 579

‘If it’s Reporter Seo Ju-ran, she’s capable of anything.’

Reporter Seo Ju-ran was known for her boldness and met a tragic end while independently investigating a case in the original timeline.

“But wouldn’t it be better to call another reporter? I heard there was someone before?”

“You mean Reporter Kim Geun-chan?”

“Yes.”

“He won’t do.”

“Why?”

“His brother is a prosecutor.”

“Isn’t that even better?”

“That’s precisely why he won’t do. We don’t know if it’s the police or the prosecution trying to cover this up.”

“Ah…….”

“In the worst-case scenario, information could leak.”

The initial partnership with Reporter Kim Geun-chan was intended to leverage his connections within the prosecution.

However, in this particular case, that connection could be a significant vulnerability.

“We need to expose this unconditionally first, and then let the police or prosecution clean up the mess afterwards.”

“I understand what you mean.”

Otherwise, it would be a half-hearted effort. Kim Geun-chan would likely share everything with his brother if an investigation were to proceed.

“Then, we need to track down the Daehan Younggwang Group first, but where and how do we even begin in Incheon?”

“We need to start in Incheon.”

“But where specifically?”

“Our primary suspect is an organization called the Daehan Younggwang Group.”

“Daehan Younggwang Group?”

“Yes.”

A small, elite group that was once fiercely competitive, recently severed ties, and is realistically composed of rough individuals who previously worked in the construction industry.

“And they are the most suspicious in terms of potentially being a nationwide organization.”

The other two organizations, the Arirang Group, are questionably a nationwide criminal enterprise, focusing more on lobbying than brute force. The Sangwon Group has even transitioned into legitimate business, making their involvement in human trafficking and smuggling unlikely.

“But in the case of the Daehan Younggwang Group, there are many suspicious aspects.”

Given the construction industry’s presence throughout the country, they have ample opportunities to expand into a nationwide organization. Moreover, substantial cash flow is characteristic of their operations.

“Furthermore, according to our information, they sold their nightclub.”

“Nightclub?”

“Yes.”

So, where did that money go? Did they simply sell it for personal use? That seems improbable. Even though nightclubs aren’t as lucrative as they once were, they still generate significant income. Selling it suggests one of two possibilities.

Either they were severely short on funds, or they had a specific purpose for the money.

However, if they were struggling financially, they would have resorted to robbery or extortion, rather than selling their cash cow, the nightclub.

For a criminal organization, selling a nightclub is akin to disbanding. A consistent source of revenue is crucial.

“Then there’s only one conclusion left. They have a specific purpose for that money.”

“Where would they spend it?”

“That’s……”

Just then, the cafe door opened, and Lee Ji-soo, looking exhausted, approached.

“Detective, I’m here.”

“Oh, great, did you find anything?”

“You were right, Detective. There were some boat transactions after the nightclub was sold.”

“Boat transactions?”

“Yes.”

Park Do-joon stated confidently.

“They need money. So, where would they spend the money from selling the nightclub? If it’s smuggling, human trafficking, or illegal immigration, what they need is a boat.”

“Ah!”

“And according to this testimony, the boat is a fishing boat.”

If it were a yacht, it might have been harder to trace. But the testimony specifies a fishing boat, not a yacht.

“Then the answer is obvious.”

They need to buy a fishing boat.

“A fishing boat?”

“Boats are quite expensive.”

People often underestimate the cost of fishing boats. But boats, in general, are very expensive because fishing boats are essentially custom-made.

Mass production is key to lowering prices, but fishing boats cannot be mass-produced. They must be built to order, which is a complex process.

Even small, plastic fishing boats, the so-called ‘two or three-person’ boats, cost millions of won [Korean currency], and the popular 3-ton vessels for coastal fishing cost around 50 to 60 million won.

But that’s just the base price of the boat. Once you add fish finders or radar, the basic cost exceeds 100 million won.

“But putting thirty people in the hold means it’s an ocean-going vessel.”

“Ah!”

A 3-ton coastal vessel cannot accommodate thirty people in the hold. Besides, it would be easy for people to escape from the hold at that size.

It needs to be at least 50 tons to hold people in the hold and transport them.

“And they have to bring people from China.”

“The ability to navigate the high seas is essential.”

“That’s right.”

The price of a 50-ton vessel is several billion won.

“Moreover, that’s the minimum.”

To fit thirty people in the hold alone, it has to be at least a 100-ton vessel.

“They have to put all the money from selling the nightclub into it.”

“That’s right.”

Of course, if the nightclub was entirely self-funded and had no debt, they wouldn’t need to, but that’s unlikely, isn’t it?

If they had that much capital, they wouldn’t have sold it in the first place.

“Moreover, the Coast Guard doesn’t typically inspect 100-ton vessels.”

“Why?”

“Because, as I mentioned, there’s no reason to suspect them of smuggling people.”

The boats used for smuggling are usually small and have limited range, driven by the lure of quick money.

“You can’t make a fortune by catching fish to death with a small boat.”

Knowing this, they seek to earn extra money through any means, including illegal immigration.

“They only take about five people at most.”

But the income from that illegal immigration is substantial. Smuggling someone from China to Korea generally costs around 30 million won, depending on the circumstances. If you split that in half, it’s 15 million won.

If they successfully smuggle five people, that’s 75 million won.

“The net profit a vessel under 10 tons makes by catching fish to death is never 75 million won.”

But just once. If they succeed in smuggling just once, they earn a year’s worth of income in one shot.

“But think about thirty people.”

That’s 450 million won at once. If they succeed just a couple of times, they recoup the cost of the boat, and everything after that is pure profit.

“On top of that, as I said before, the Coast Guard doesn’t really monitor large vessels.”

Because there has never been a case of large-scale illegal immigration using large vessels.

“Even if there is, it can be checked at the port.”

The usual method of smuggling on a small scale is to pretend to be a worker.

“No, why?”

“Because it’s not easy to verify.”

Let’s say they conduct a crackdown at sea. How would they identify the person? Identification? People rarely carry identification when working in dangerous conditions at sea.

If you work at sea, your whole body smells like fish, and so does your wallet. So, when working on a boat, they wear clothes that they don’t mind getting dirty, and of course, they don’t keep things like identification there.

“So, a crackdown is not easy.”

They can’t board the boat and check everyone’s identification, and they can’t just arrest the crew.

“On top of that, large fishing boats have radar that matches their size.”

Small fishing boats don’t have sophisticated radar; at most, they have fish finders. But large fishing boats often have radar.

Because they need to avoid small fishing boats. Large fishing boats are so tall that it’s difficult to spot small fishing boats near the hull.

Collisions between boats happen frequently, even between Japanese warships and fishing boats.

So, they use radar to prevent collisions or to scan the surrounding area.

“You can use that to avoid the Coast Guard.”

“That’s right.”

The radar used by the Coast Guard is more advanced than that on fishing boats, but the Coast Guard doesn’t have the resources to track and search every boat.

So, if they detect a Coast Guard vessel from a distance and slightly alter course to avoid it, the Coast Guard is unlikely to pursue them.

“But how do they know it’s the Coast Guard?”

“How big are the boats used by the Coast Guard?”

Fishing boats are rarely as large as those used by the Coast Guard. And they can determine the size of the target detected by the radar.

“So, they avoid big boats unconditionally.”

“Yes.”

In a way, it’s much safer and more discreet to smuggle with large boats than with small boats, and they can transport more people.

“The economy of scale is not just a term used in business.”

There is a clear correlation between the scale of the crime and the decreased likelihood of detection, coupled with increased profits.

“Hmm…….”

Reporter Seo Ju-ran seemed to grasp the implications of Park Do-joon’s words and continued to scribble notes.

“Then Detective Lee Ji-soo went to check the transaction details?”

“Yes. All ships must be registered upon purchase.”

Unregistered ships cannot use ports or set sail.

“And there was one suspicious ship.”

“What is it?”

“The New Marine.”

“New Marine? That’s a very common name.”

“Well, there’s no law against using the same name.”

In fact, if I were the criminal, I would use a common name to minimize suspicion.

“So, who is the owner?”

Park Do-joon didn’t just ask her to check the fishing boat transaction details. To identify the criminal, they must verify the owner. They can’t suspect an innocent person of being a criminal.

“It’s a company called Seongyu Maritime.”

“Seongyu Maritime?”

“Yes, and it’s a company that has never engaged in legitimate fishing before.”

Many companies profit from operating fishing boats. Coastal fishing is feasible with small fishing boats, but deep-sea fishing is more challenging than it seems. A 100-ton boat is insufficient for voyages to the Pacific Ocean, but it’s adequate for fishing between China and Korea or slightly further offshore.

“But the problem is people, right?”

“People are not the problem. It’s not exactly recent that the workers on fishing boats have been replaced by Chinese people, is it?”

“Ah…….”

Since recruiters in China send the people they recruit, they can easily use their own organization members.

“……Certainly.”

Lee Ji-soo seemed to realize something at those words.

“Then that indiscriminate killing makes sense to some extent?”

“That’s right.”

Most people have a natural aversion to killing. Even if the Daehan Younggwang Group is unscrupulous, killing thirty people is a different level of depravity.

“But China’s disregard for human life is beyond imagination.”

In Korea, killing is taught to be wrong from a young age, and this education instills a strong aversion to killing, even among criminals.