“Narco-Saints”is a 2022 Korean crime series that revolves around the life of Kang In-gu. The series more information on the painful experiences of Kang; he was wrongfully convicted and framed for an illegal drug case. In-gu is a businessman who worked hard to earn for the betterment of his children, but finance became a huge problem for them since he couldn’t keep up with the needs of his family. Kang wanted his family to experience everything that he could not in his childhood. So, to increase their financial stability, Kang decided to work in the skate fish business. The people of Suriname would often dispose of this fish, and Kang wanted to use this opportunity to sell them at local market rates in Korea. During this business trade, Kang is injured by a local goon named Chen Jin. He wanted him to pay for the skate fish, but Eungsoo and Kang approached pastor Jeon Yo-hwan of the Paramaribo church, and he offered to help them. Even though he got rid of Chen, someone else stepped into the picture and framed Kang in the smuggling case. Yo-hwan was highly influential, and he had the power to help Kang with the skate trade.
But there’s a catch. Kang is extremely infuriated by Jeon’s actions since he was responsible for his arrest. As it turns out, Jeon is a smuggler. Choi Changho from the National Intelligence Service informed Kang about Jeon’s actions. Moreover, he is known to be the ‘Cocaine Godfather.’ Eighteen years ago, there was a massive surge in smuggling cases, and Changho was a part of this operation; they had to arrest a meth-smuggling gang in Incheon. Everyone was caught successfully, and the whole smuggling network was shut down. But Jeon managed to escape with ten kilograms of meth, and he was the main distributor in this network. After his escape, Jeon continued with his business and built a huge empire. But three years later, Jeon landed on the police radar again, and this time it was for an illegal contract of the Geoje construction investment.
Jeon conquered multiple deals around Korea since he had massive connections with higher authorities. Even though he never planned for this deal to work, Jeon hooked them up with drugs, and the investors gave up everything. The number of addicts increased as the investors began to follow his orders to acquire more drugs. Moreover, Jeon adapted different methods to help grow his business. Jeon pretended to be a pastor and won people’s hearts by secretly supplying meth in their drinks. Gradually, the numbers reached around 12,000, and soon he earned millions from his work. Since Koreans were aware of his presence, Jeon wanted to move out and place himself in an area where it was safer for him to smuggle drugs. Jeon comes up with a plan to settle in Suriname, as the country is filled with corruption, and Jeon’s actions will go unnoticed.
The population of Suriname was 500,000, and access to cocaine was possible. The country was stuck between endless military fights and gang wars, and this provided him with better opportunities. Moreover, Suriname never signed an extradition treaty with Korea. Jeon successfully built good relations with the higher authorities of Suriname, and General Delano was one of them, as he had maximum power in the country. Soon, Delano began following Jeon’s orders since he was in urgent need of cash. With Delano’s help, Jeon wiped out all the small gangs in Suriname and acquired exclusive rights to smuggling cocaine from Colombia. He used his female followers as mules to supply drugs, and even if they were caught, no one dared speak against Jeon.
The men from his group were trained with arms and ammunition. Jeon also coerced them into consuming drugs to maintain their loyalty to him. Well, Jeon’s smuggling route was limited to Europe, and he wanted to expand his operations across Korea. So, Kang’s shipping containers were used as a test route. Choi went through Kang’s voicemail recordings and figured out that Eungsoo had found out about the pastor’s identity. But sadly, he was killed by Jeon’s followers. Since Suriname and Korea don’t have an extradition treaty, it was difficult for the Korean embassy to arrest him. Moreover, Jeon is completely safe in Suriname. To get him arrested, he has to step out of the country, but that is not possible. So, the only option left was to coerce Jeon into supplying his stock to the United States as Jeon can be detained without any foreign interference.
Dealing with Jeon became extremely difficult for Kang since he had killed his best friend. But Kang had to carry out this plan as this was his only way to reach Korea. Despite all the struggles, Kang would have to lure him out of the country, and this was his only resort to save himself and his family from the dangerous world of smuggling. Moreover, Jeon is a powerful authority since he has connections with multiple politicians in Suriname. From the very beginning, Jeon was good at manipulating people, and this even gave him the advantage of acquiring thousands of people to work under him. Today, they were even ready to sacrifice their lives for Jeon. “Narco-Saints” can attract international viewers since the series manages to execute a well-conceptualized storyline that includes various twists and turns. Moreover, the rivalry between Kang and Jeon becomes more intense with each passing episode.
See More: ‘Narco-Saints’ Kang In-gu’s Back Story, Explained: How Did In-gu Step Into The Skatefish Business?
