Man charged with smuggling S. Koreans

SEATTLE – Federal prosecutors have charged a man with trying to sneak seven South Koreans into the United States from Canada.

Dong In Seok is part of a ring that has been smuggling undocumented Koreans first to Vancouver, British Columbia, and then to northeastern Washington, authorities wrote in a two-count complaint filed in U.S. District Court on Monday. The line typically ends in Los Angeles.

On March 27, Washington State Patrol troopers stopped a Canadian in a rented sport utility vehicle for a traffic violation near Oroville, Senior Special Agent David Lindwall of Immigration and Customs Enforcement wrote in charging papers. They found a handheld radio in the vehicle, along with two state maps with foreign writing, the charging documents said.

The rental agreement showed that the SUV had been picked up the previous day at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, not by the driver but by Dong In Seok, also known as Kenny Suk, who had a previous arrest for human smuggling.

Five days later, Border Patrol agents stopped a Chevy TrailBlazer on a road near Oroville, near the border.

Inside the SUV were six Korean women, a Korean man and the 19-year-old Canadian driver, Dana Wutzke. The Koreans had apparently crossed the border on foot and were picked up by Wutzke.

Wutzke told an ICE agent that a Korean named “Leo” gave her the rented Trailblazer in Everett. In return, Wutzke gave Leo the teal Mazda MX3 she was driving.

Wutzke said she was to receive $700 for delivering the Koreans to Leo in Everett, according to the court documents.

If found guilty of the smuggling charges, he faces up to 10 years in prison and $500,000 in fines. A magistrate judge in Seattle ordered him detained pending further proceedings.