"Twisting Shirtless"... Drugs at Camping Site, How Far Does 'Drug Crime' Go?

8,575 Drug Offenders in Korea... 13.4% Increase from Last Year
Drug Smuggling Gradually Becoming Larger Scale
Prosecutors Declare 'War on Drugs'... "Will Strictly Punish Drug Crimes"

Drug detection dogs participating in the Korea Customs Service's drug smuggling prevention campaign held at Incheon International Airport on the 11th are demonstrating their skills. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] The term "drug-free country" has become a thing of the past. Recently, the number of drug offenders in South Korea has surged, and the scale of drug smuggling has also been expanding. In response, the prosecution has declared a "war on drugs" and plans to strengthen investigative capabilities to strictly punish drug crimes.

According to Ulsan Jungbu Police Station on the 22nd, three men in their 30s who took drugs at a campsite and exhibited abnormal behavior by shouting in a hallucinatory state were arrested by the police. On the afternoon of the 21st, around 5 p.m., they caused a disturbance in an unconscious state at a campsite in Jung-gu, Ulsan. One of them, barefoot and shirtless, staggered in and out of flower beds before lying down on the road, while the other two drove an SUV and ended up driving the vehicle into a nearby ditch. The police, who were dispatched following a report from the campsite manager, apprehended them on the spot. During the police investigation, they stated that they had taken LSD, a psychotropic drug classified as a type of narcotic.

In Incheon, two men in their 20s who took drugs in a hotel room were urgently arrested on the 18th. Police, responding to a report suspecting drug use, found disposable syringes and white powder in their room. A rapid reagent test showed positive results for drugs in both individuals.

The number of drug offenders in South Korea has been rapidly increasing. According to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, the total number of drug offenders in the first half of this year was 8,575, a 13.4% increase compared to the same period last year, and the number of smuggling and distribution offenders rose by 32.8%.

Drug smuggling has also been growing in scale. According to the "2022 First Half Drug Smuggling Crackdown Trends" announced by the Korea Customs Service on the 26th of last month, there were a total of 372 drug smuggling cases detected in the first half of this year, with a smuggled quantity of 238 kg. Compared to 662 cases and 214 kg detected in the first half of last year, the number of cases decreased by 44%, but the weight increased by 11%. Despite a decrease in flights and the number of travelers due to COVID-19, the scale of drug smuggling has become larger.

Due to COVID-19, non-face-to-face drug transactions through social networking services (SNS) have also increased. In June, the Korea Communications Standards Commission reported that 12,812 online drug trade information cases were blocked in the first half of this year. Requests for correction regarding drug trade information were 8,130 cases in 2020, when COVID-19 began to spread, but doubled to 17,020 cases in 2021.

The prosecution plans to strictly punish drug crimes and restore the status of a "drug-free country." The Supreme Prosecutors' Office held a meeting chaired by the head of the Anti-Corruption and Violent Crime Division with chief prosecutors in charge of drug and organized crime from six major district prosecutors' offices nationwide to discuss strict response measures against drug and organized crimes. Accordingly, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office will strengthen international cooperation by establishing a cooperative system with over 30 countries worldwide, including UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime), dispatching investigators, exchanging investigative information, and conducting local arrests and extraditions related to drug crimes.

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