Over 12,200 'Mayakryu Sabum' Cases Recorded by August This Year... Record High Trend

Cocaine and Other 'Drug Offenders' Up 53% Year-on-Year... Seized Drugs Up 60%
'Office Workers, Students, Housewives' Daily Infiltration... Prosecution Says Drug Crime Beyond Critical Point

Police arrested a distributor who sold drugs to a customer who died after drinking alcohol mixed with suspected drugs at a nightclub in Gangnam last July, and seized methamphetamine, marijuana, ecstasy, and syringes./Photo by Gangnam Police Station

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] It has been confirmed that the number of drug offenders booked by the prosecution up to August this year reached about 12,200. This figure represents an approximately 14% increase compared to the same period last year. If this trend continues, the number of drug offenders booked by the prosecution this year is expected to set a record high.

According to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office on the 12th, the number of crackdowns on drug offenders who used cocaine and other substances from January to August this year was 2,184 cases, a 53.7% increase compared to the same period last year (1,421 cases). The number of arrests of drug offenders also increased by 28.2% compared to last year.

The number of people booked by the prosecution for illegally using psychotropic drugs such as Philopon, which belong to the category of stimulant drugs, also increased by 11.5% to 7,615 people up to August this year compared to last year. Marijuana offenders maintained a similar level compared to the same period last year. The amount of seized drugs was 493.3 kg, a 60.7% increase from last year (307 kg).

Among all drug offenders booked by the prosecution, 71.3% were male; however, among those who used drugs such as cocaine, males accounted for 50.1% and females 49.9%, showing an almost even distribution between men and women.

The occupations of detected drug offenders showed that the unemployed accounted for the highest proportion across marijuana, drugs, and stimulants. In the case of marijuana offenders, they were company employees, students, and those engaged in labor and service industries. Among drug offenders, those working in agriculture numbered 381, the highest, followed by housewives, company employees, and students. Stimulant offenders were mainly company employees and those working in labor, students, service industries, medical, and entertainment sectors.

There were also about 1,570 foreign drug offenders, who were mainly involved in distributing, using, or possessing stimulants such as Philopon. Foreign nationals from Thailand, China, and Vietnam accounted for the majority of foreign drug offenders. Recently, the Criminal Division 3 of the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Jo Seok-gyu) conducted a focused investigation on drug smuggling crimes, arresting and indicting four Thai nationals and seizing 6.05 kg of Philopon and 31,834 tablets of Yaba containing Philopon, with a retail value of approximately 3.37735 billion KRW. This amount is enough for 230,000 people to use simultaneously.

The fact that drugs, once considered the exclusive domain of some wealthy individuals and celebrities, have penetrated everyday life is widely believed in the legal community to be due to the weakening of investigative capabilities against drug crimes.

After the adjustment of investigative authority between the prosecution and the police, the prosecution's direct investigation targets have been reduced, limiting their scope to 'drug import/export or possession/ownership crimes for import/export purposes.' This has led to a weakening of investigative capabilities against drug crimes and resulted in a decrease in the number of detected drug crime cases compared to before the adjustment.

The prosecution currently views drug crimes as having crossed a critical threshold. It is reported that Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok is also contemplating the weakened drug investigations by the prosecution. The prosecution is expected to announce extraordinary measures equivalent to declaring a war on drug crimes within this year.

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