The South Korean crime action thriller series “Narco-Saints” deliberately calls itself so that it quickly attracts attention, because the drug ringleader in this series is also a so-called saint.

While it sounds like this holy drug lord is the focus here, the Netflix thriller actually puts the spotlight on the lengthy operation to bring this corrupt man to justice. Neither visually nor otherwise spectacularly, they fail to make the show anything noteworthy in the already crowded drug crime genre.

What Are The Korean Series About?

Each episode of Narco-Saints begins with a note that the series is based on a true story but has been recreated for dramatization purposes. This story revolves around Kang In-Gu, a South Korean who adapted to life’s struggles from a young age. When he was a boy, Kang’s father had left home, first to fight in the war and later to find odd jobs to support the family. Despite being talented at judo, Kang only used the sport to ensure he received free training at school and eventually had to quit.

As a teenager, he lost his parents and had to take care of two younger brothers. Kang started working as a waiter in a bar and then as a car mechanic while getting married so that someone could help him. with housework and eventually had two children of her own. Life’s rigors and past experiences had made Kang a resourceful man, and he worked his way up to manager of a bar frequented by American veterans remaining after the war. Although he made quite a bit of money this way, Kang was exhausted from his life of always working hard and never spending time with his family and children.

Image Credit: Netflix

It was around this time that his childhood friend, Eungsoo, first told him about an exciting business proposal. Eungsoo had spent years doing odd jobs around the world in the small Latin American country of Suriname, learning how the Surinamese throw the stake back in the water because they don’t eat it. On the other side of the world, in South Korea, the pipefish is emerging as a coveted and increasingly scarce fish. his crazy business idea, a few more restless nights in his bar and his mental despair finally convince him.

During his incarceration, Kang is first approached by the National Intelligence Service (NIS), South Korea’s top intelligence agency, through an agent named Choi Chang-Ho, and you are assigned an operation to take part in. actually Jeon who had hidden cocaine in Kang’s fish stash as the pastor was in fact an established cocaine dealer in Suriname and the South Korean government was keen to arrest him. drugged with methamphetamine and cocaine to keep her in check. However, Jeon’s influence was so great that he could not be touched in Suriname, and that is why Choi and the NIS wanted Jeon dragged onto US soil.

With the promise of clearing up all charges against him, and also with a large cash bounty, Kang In-Gu is put in charge of being a NIS informant within Jeon’s gang and somehow convincing the narco leader to operate on US soil.

The NIS Infiltrate Jeon’s Gang and The Arrest

While Kang understands the incredible danger, he would put himself in danger if he tried to work against Jeon, especially after learning that Eungsoo was killed by Jeon’s gang, he also knows it’s for him there is no way out of prison and miserable life. After agreeing to work for the NIS, the agency helps him gain publicity as a prison drug dealer so that Jeon’s bodyguard, who is also in the same prison, will take notice of him. After his release, Kang goes to the Chinatown district of Suriname to develop a relationship with the man who previously threatened him, Chen Zhen. and Jeon with cocaine, and each wanted to take over the other’s business.

While Jeon ships his drugs to Europe, Kang Chen suggests he knows someone willing to sell cocaine in South Korea and the rest of Southeast Asia, which is a hugely lucrative market. While Chen agrees to such a suggestion, the real reason Kang came to him seems only to be noticed by Jeon, and he succeeds. Jeon’s men force him out of Chinatown and take him to Jeon’s sprawling estate to discuss business. Jeon is also interested in the Asian market and wants Kang to sell his cocaine there.

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Neither Jeon nor Kang have claims to their pasts as they both acknowledge the fact that it was Jeon who used Kang to sell their drugs and Kang now convinces him that he returned to Suriname. just to make money for himself. When Jeon is ready to believe the story and put business ahead of his personal doubts, Kang tells the man about his friend Sangman, who operates in Brazil and may be shipping the drugs to South Korea. This sangman is Choi Chang-Ho, and Choi personally meets with Jeon to plan the deal. As a drug lord with a reputation and direct ties to the President of Suriname, Jeon Yo-Hwan obviously has his doubts at first and assures that Choi and Kang’s pasts are corroborated by his gang.

After all these checks and procedures, when Jeon is sure of his customers, he makes a deal with Choi to sell him a ton of cocaine that he would later ship to Asia. The NIS know full well that they cannot attack immediately. Jeon fell for it, so Choi plans this first deal as a rough start to her time with Jeon. He asks the drug lord to transport the drugs to the Brazilian border and plans with the NIS to intervene with the police during this transport. Jeon accepts the deal and sends his men along with the drugs to the Brazilian border; here they meet Choi as Sangman, but the Brazilian police stop the deal.

Although the NIS had planned the ambush to be non-hostile, the situation quickly escalates when some of Jeon’s men call in reinforcements. Kang manages to escape from the crime scene with the other men from Jeon’s gang, and they also manage to bring the drug dealers back.

Choi is angry with Jeon and says he lost his money and is now trying to find another drug smuggling route by contacting Jeon through Kang. Although Jeon denies playing it that easy, he starts to take Kang more under his wing and give him some more power. He introduces Kang to President Delano, who also happens to be his good friend since the man became president thanks to Jeon’s financial help. The drug lord also tells Kang about his future business idea: Until now, Jeon has been buying cocaine from Colombians and only selling it, but now he plans to grow his own crops and manufacture his own drugs to sell at higher profits.

Jeon even offers Kang a leadership role in this new deal, but Kang realizes that he and the NIS must act quickly to catch the drug lord. But Choi and the NIS aren’t going quite as he wishes, and Kang grows increasingly frustrated with the agency’s orders. He feared for his own safety as Jeon had now realized that there was a traitor in their camp and had started to find out who it was. Meanwhile, the NIS made a deal with the DEA in the US that guaranteed the DEA would arrest Jeon if he did business on US soil.

Choi then reprises the role of Sangman and negotiates with Jeon, saying the cocaine will be transferred to Puerto Rico from where it will be shipped to Asia. However, Jeon obviously rejects such treatment from Puerto Rico. falls within US jurisdiction and you do not wish to be exposed to such a threat.

Perhaps due to his frustration with the NIS, as well as his constant efforts to find a solution to his problem, Kang decides to break through and contact Chinese gangster Chen Zhen. Since he had a ton of cocaine on him and was unwilling to make the dangerous trade with Choi, he also contacted Chen to solve his problem. Since Chen had distribution networks across Europe and Asia due to his methamphetamine business, Jeon wanted to use this network to sell his cocaine without getting in trouble with the infamous Cali cartel, which ran most of the drug chains in America. However, Kang’s suggestion to Chen is that Chen agrees to deal with Jeon but actually kills him in an encounter, and then Chen and Kang would take over the cocaine business and make a fortune for themselves.

Chen again agrees to Kang’s plan and tells Jeon that he is only willing to do business with him if Jeon gives him a man named Byeon Ki. Byeon Ki had been a loyal worker for Chen until he switched sides and was placed under Jeon’s protection, and Chen now wanted him back so he could kill him in revenge. of his gang, but they fail to kill the leader of the. Jeon and some of the men manage to return to their base, and Byeon Ki manages to escape as well

Chen’s men. However, Chen had got hold of the cocaine that Jeon had been selling and it was now hidden somewhere in Chinatown. Kang is understandably scared of the situation at first, but soon realizes he can actually make a good deal out of it. He decides to take the cocaine to Jeon and gain his trust and then get Jeon to agree to the port. Rich deal as there were no other traders left for Jeon to turn to. In this matter, Byeon is of great help to Ki Kang, who appears to have been a top Nazi agent who has been working in Suriname all along to bring Jeon to justice. Along with the support of Byeon Ki and Jeon, Kang brings in the cocaine, killing Chen Zhen in the process.

Now that Jeon once again has a huge stash of drugs on hand that he’s dying to sell, and after killing his close associate David for mistakenly believing he’s a mole in his gang, the drug dealer is here Pastor willing to accept Choi’s deal with Puerto Rico. When both Kang and Choi repeatedly tell him that Puerto Rico isn’t actually under American soil and is therefore safe to handle, Jeon really doesn’t seem to have a choice and eventually seems convinced.

Did Kang And Choi Arrest Jeon In Time?

The original plan for the entire drug delivery was that Kang would take the drugs from Jeon and fly to Puerto Rico where the NIS and DEA would be waiting for them. Here they would testify that Jeon tried to smuggle drugs through US territory. and then arrest the Suriname man while Kang would be safely returned to South Korea. However, since so many alarming events have happened in the past, Jeon becomes suspicious in the face of such an outcome and decides at the last moment to send another man to Puerto Rico with the drugs, instead keeping Kang with him if possible as a hostage if necessary. The plane lands in Puerto Rico and the DEA takes control.

Although there were fears that Jeon might have wisely not shipped any cocaine in it, those fears were allayed when the drug was found in the shipment and authorities were now on their way to Suriname to arrest her. Meanwhile, both Jeon and Kang had been desperate for news, and Jeon kept trying to contact the man he sent for the transfer. This man, a young and loyal follower of Jeon’s cult, managed to send Jeon a cryptic message during his imprisonment and this made Jeon realize something was wrong. He takes Kang hostage, but the man is rescued in time by Byeon Ki and then by approaching DEA soldiers.

Jeon tries to flee into the thick forests of Suriname, which was almost like a safe haven for him now, but Kang, Choi, and the rest of the DEA team arrive just in time to stop him and Jeon Yo-Hwan arrest once and for all. for everyone.

As the teams celebrate their success, both Byeon Ki and Kang return to their native South Korea. Kang returns to Dongducheon and is reunited with his wife and two children. Six months have passed and Kang has restarted his garage. Doing business, repairing cars, and selling spare parts, since the money promised by the NIS has not yet arrived. One day, Choi comes to him and tells him that while the NIS couldn’t give Kang direct cash, they were willing to give Kang two popular karaoke bars for free.

So, Kang could run the bars as he used to before he went to Suriname and make a huge profit for himself, but the man rejects the idea. He doesn’t agree with going back to everyday life, being away from his family to constantly make money, and now seems happier with the small amounts of money he earns from his garage and his wife’s restaurant.

Image Credit: Netflix

Choi seems to understand and tells him how Jeon, who is now in prison, said that a valuable possession of his was still with Kang in. Kang remembers how Jeon used to give him a ball with supposed autographs from baseball stars and he always thought the autographs were fake. But now it looks like they’re real, and Kang is thinking about how much money he could make selling this ball when Narco-Saints comes to an end.

Kang In-Gu first left South Korea in order to earn a lot of money and later live in comfort, but in doing so he had to endure an unimaginable series of events as a businessman. Working on a covert operation with the NIS was no small feat, but Kang still wanted to make money from it, since such exciting experiences don’t really meet his financial needs.

But not only did he not receive the promised money, but he also was never able to prove that he had worked with the NIS because the agency could not confirm such covert missions. During his time in Suriname, Kang had missed spending time with his family and also feared a similar outcome to his friend Eungsoo, whose family he would never see. him again.

Kang remembered his friend as much as his own family when he made sure some of the money he made went to benefit both his and Eungsoo’s family. After all, it’s the time with his loving family that Kang values ​​the most, and he doesn’t want to miss the opportunity to watch his children grow up for any money in the world. Narco-Saints is a 2022 crime drama series that will air on Netflix.

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