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4,000 cops raid church in search of ferry owner

June 11, 2014

Police officers enter Geumsuwon, a stronghold of the Salvation Sect in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. They searched the compound and detained supporters of Yoo Byung-eun, the sect’s leader and de factor owner of the sunken ferry Sewol. (Yonhap)

ANSEONG, South Korea (Yonhap) — A massive raid aimed at finding the fugitive owner of the sunken ferry Sewol ended with minor results Wednesday with no apparent leads as to the suspect’s whereabouts.

A team of prosecutors and some 4,000 riot police, armed with court-issued warrants, stormed into a sprawling religious compound belonging to the Evangelical Baptist Church in Anseong, just south of Seoul, to arrest Yoo Byung-eun, the leader of the sect.

The 73-year-old is believed to own Chonghaejin Marine Co., the operator of the ferry Sewol that sank off the southwest coast on April 16, leaving more than 300 people dead or missing.

The team arrested six church followers during the raid, including five people suspected of helping Yoo escape arrest, officials said.

Investigators believe that corrupt business practices involving Yoo resulted in lax safety, such as cargo overloading, and created conditions that ultimately led to the ferry tragedy.

Authorities have been after Yoo for weeks, offering a 500 million won (US$489,000) bounty for information leading to his capture.

One of the six church members was detained for trying to obstruct the raid, police said, adding that they are focusing on finding two other senior church followers who are believed to have played a major role in helping Yoo escape.

Investigators also seized a computer and a sport utility vehicle belonging to Yoo’s eldest daughter, Som-na, among other items.

Nearly 100 church followers built a blockade in front of the compound but did not try to stop the police from entering the premises.

The followers have been staging a sit-in at the gate, arguing that the church has nothing to do with the allegations raised by the investigators.

The huge operation came a day after President Park Geun-hye urged police and prosecutors to capture Yoo, saying that he “must be brought to justice.”

On May 21, a team of prosecutors and police first entered the premises to arrest Yoo and his eldest son, Dae-kyun. After an intensive search that lasted for hours, the team failed to find the two.

As part of efforts to locate their whereabouts, prosecutors have raised the rewards for information leading to the arrests of Yoo and his son, to 500 million won and 100 million won, respectively.

Police said they plan to resume the search early Thursday.