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 KCG arrested a group of oil laundering workers who illegally distributed the oil to textile mills by using methods such as water mixing with duty-free oil for sea use (bunker C oil). According to the Korea Coast Guard, 25 people including Lee (43) and Kim (57), who distributed illegally purchased duty-free oil from a foreign sailing vessel, were booked without detention for violating the Act on the Oil and Renewable Fuel Business.
Lee and others are suspected of using a cruise ship that collects waste oil from Busan Port, Yeosu Port, and Incheon Port from August 2016 to November last year to distribute about 18 billion won (28 million liters) of boiler fuel to textile factories and flower complex. They shared duties such as supplying, collecting, storing, transporting and selling tax-free oil, distributing it in the form of a store organization. In the process of distribution, illegal duty-free oil was handed over to a land-based dealer by using a waste collection vehicle (tankroy).
In addition, it was found that when bunker C oil and water are mixed, they are separated after a certain amount of time due to differences in gravity, and when caught, they are thoroughly mixed with seawater to turn it into waste oil.
The duty free oil mixed with sea water was transported to a secret warehouse and sold through separate operations (sometimes called "picking water"). In particular, Kim (41), a middle-class seller, rents a secret oil warehouse in the downtown area and does not designate a safety manager, but mixes tax-free oil with other oil and even conducts a flame-ignition experiment to make sure it catches fire.
Marine bunker C oil, which was distributed by the "oil laundering" group, was distributed at one-third lower price than low sulfur bunker C oil (average price of 700 won per liter) for land use. Bunker C oil is a crude sulfur oil that cannot be used on land, and it contains up to 2.9 percent sulfur, which is up to 10 times higher than the standard, and is prohibited from being used on land.
According to the Korea National Oil Management Agency, the KCG collected samples several times and found that the oil they distributed was Bunker C oil, a duty-free oil for sea use, which causes fine dust.
The KCG plans to investigate additional crimes and expand its investigation into illegal distribution of duty-free oil for sea purposes.
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