Police Conduct Intensive Crackdown on Illegal Opium Poppy and Marijuana Cultivation Over 4 Months

Cannabis cultivated in a residence seized by the police. (Photo by National Police Agency)

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] The National Police Agency announced on the 28th that it will conduct intensive crackdowns on illegal cultivation of poppies and hemp from the 1st of next month until the end of July.

According to the police, the number of people caught for illegal poppy cultivation over the past three years was 1,060 in 2018, 1,149 in 2019, and 1,032 last year, with more than 1,000 cases occurring annually. For hemp, 258, 426, and 263 people were arrested during the same period.

Related incidents have continued recently. The Jeju Police Agency's Narcotics Crime Investigation Unit arrested two individuals who installed hemp cultivation facilities and cultivated and smoked hemp in residential areas of Seogwipo City from August last year to February this year, seizing 826g of marijuana. The Gangwon Police Agency's Narcotics Crime Investigation Unit also uncovered 66 people who illegally cultivated poppies and hemp in home gardens in Wonju City and other areas from March to June last year, seizing over 30,000 poppies and hemp plants.

Poppies are known as plants effective for stomachache and pain relief, and are sometimes cultivated as substitutes for medicine or for ornamental purposes, mainly in some rural fishing villages. However, they can be extracted into opium and misused as drugs. Hemp can be cultivated in specific areas for fiber or seed harvesting if permitted by law, but cases of illegal cultivation disguised as such or secret cultivation in urban residential areas have been occurring.

The police plan to focus on cracking down on illegally cultivated poppies and hemp to fundamentally block the supply of narcotics. In particular, since cultivation is often done secretly, they plan to actively promote reporting by posting promotional leaflets and providing rewards for tips.

A police official stated, "Through this intensive crackdown, we will concentrate police capabilities to eradicate narcotics crimes, including poppies and hemp, which threaten the safety and health of the public."

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