National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters to Launch Second Half International Crime Thematic Crackdown Starting Tomorrow

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters announced on the 15th that it will conduct a focused crackdown on international crimes from the 16th until October 31st.

The main areas of focus are ▲major foreign criminal offenders ▲drug-related offenders ▲fraudsters, among others. The police plan to verify the presence of backing forces such as foreign criminal organizations, aiming to eradicate the influx of overseas organizations and the domestic growth of criminal groups. Additionally, they will intensively crack down on drug distribution and usage activities occurring in foreigner-only clubs and entertainment and lodging establishments within areas densely populated by foreigners.

During the crackdown period, if group crimes involving foreigners occur, the police will form special investigation teams and respond by applying charges related to the formation and activities of criminal organizations. Furthermore, they plan to block connections to organizational funding sources through seizure and confiscation before prosecution, and identify and arrest backing forces through international cooperation with Interpol. They also intend to encourage illegal foreign residents who have suffered crime damages to report to the police without fear of forced deportation by utilizing the 'Notification Obligation Exemption System.'

Earlier, through the focused crackdown on international crimes in the first half of the year, the police arrested 801 individuals, among whom 144 were detained. According to the police, the number of foreign drug offenders surged nearly threefold from 596 in 2018 to 1,606 last year. In particular, various fraud crimes such as telephone financial scams are evolving into international and organized forms, the police reported. A police official stated, "We will apply a zero-tolerance principle in this crackdown and thoroughly and strictly enforce related acts to eradicate the intent to commit crimes."

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