The man suspected to be the actual owner of the ill-fated Sewol ferry is said to have contacted brokers to help him stow away. 
 
Sources say an aide of fugitive Yoo Byung-eon offered 10 billion won for smuggling a group of five out of the country.
 
Investigators have also received a tip that a gang member in Haenam, South Jeolla Province, has asked a Busan-based criminal organization about borrowing a ship.
 
To obtain more information on the tip, prosecutors are questioning brokers who deal with stowaways. Prosecutors and police are increasing surveillance on ports, harbors and ships in the coastal Mokpo and Haenam areas, but the wide coastline and numerous small islands are making the search difficult.
 
They are also inspecting passing cars on major roads and searching farms and facilities owned by Yoo’s religious sect, as well as houses of the sect’s members.