Police Arrest 2,640 Drug Offenders... Persistent 'Club Drug Use' Despite COVID-19

Guesthouse Leasing, Operation of New and Variant Clubs
6 out of 10 Arrested Are in Their 20s and 30s
40.7% of Drug Offenders Use the Dark Web and Internet

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] The National Police Agency announced on the 15th that it conducted a "Special Crackdown on Illegal Distribution of Narcotics" for 70 days from October 23 to December 31 last year and arrested 2,640 related offenders. Among them, 504 were detained.

The number of arrests surged by 82.3% compared to the same period last year. Notably, drug offenders using the internet and social networking services (SNS) increased among the younger generation.

By age group, those in their 20s accounted for the largest share at 34.2%, followed by those in their 30s at 29.2%, and those in their 40s at 18.7%. Minors under the age of 19 accounted for 3.2%. Internet drug offenders numbered 1,074, making up 40.7% of the total arrests. Cases involving the dark web reached 327, which is more than four times higher than the previous year.

Drug use cases also increased mainly in foreigner-only clubs and areas densely populated by foreigners. Foreign drug offenders numbered 458, accounting for 17.4%, among whom 260 were Thai nationals. The police explained that the distribution and use of "Yaba" surged mainly among Thai nationals.

Despite the contraction of clubs due to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), drug use in clubs remained steady with 298 cases and 1,332 people caught. It was reported that drugs were used in new and variant clubs such as rented guesthouses.

Additionally, the police arrested 13 sex crime offenders related to drug use and deleted or blocked 17,562 drug advertisements found on the internet and other platforms. They also seized criminal proceeds amounting to 290 million KRW and took pre-prosecution seizure and confiscation measures on 478 million KRW.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.