Hours after prosecutors announced that they would drop charges against a group of customs officials accused in a drug-smuggling case, the police superintendent who raised the allegations has applied for warrants to search six locations.

Baek Hae-ryong said he had requested warrants to raid three regional customs offices as well as the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office and prosecutors’ offices in Seoul and Incheon, arguing that their records contained “more than enough” to substantiate his claim that the customs officials had aided a Malaysian drug syndicate's operations.

His move came shortly after the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office’s joint investigation unit—led by Chief Prosecutor Im Eun-jeong—announced that seven customs employees had been cleared of wrongdoing and that no presidential office pressure or other unlawful intervention had been confirmed.

Baek countered that, according to case files, prosecutors had “covered up the case” and that some actions even amounted to enabling the smuggling operation.

Because Baek’s police team is part of the joint investigation unit, the decision on whether to submit the warrant requests to the court now rests with the prosecutors leading the same task force.

Given that prosecutors have already deemed most allegations baseless, legal observers say the odds of the warrants being filed appear slim. However, prosecutors said they would review the request and make their decision in accordance with statutory requirements.