[Exclusive] Crackdown Budget Cuts and Slow Responses from NFS... Setbacks in the 'War on Drugs'

Next Year's Drug Equipment Budget Cut by 38%
Additional Laptops Needed for Dark Web Tracking
National Forensic Service Response Delayed from Sept 1 to 10
Concerns Over Police Limits in Drug Crime Response

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] As the police have declared a war on drugs, the budget for drug-related equipment has actually decreased, and the response time for forensic analysis from the National Forensic Service has become longer. This has led to concerns that there will be limitations in responding to drug crimes due to setbacks in arrests and investigations.

According to the 'Budget Status for Drug Crime Investigations' submitted by the National Police Agency to Rep. Jeong Woo-taek of the People Power Party on the 24th, the budget for drug safety equipment next year is 187 million KRW, which is a 38% decrease compared to this year's 303 million KRW. This budget covers the purchase of nitrile gloves used for urine collection in simple reagent tests, drug detectors, masks, and other items.

A National Police Agency official stated, "The equipment project has ended, so the budget for purchasing safety gear has been reduced," adding, "While it would be ideal to fully allocate the budget, some parts cannot be fully dedicated, so the reduction was unavoidable."

The budget for laptops used in cyber drug investigations also decreased from 105 million KRW to 31 million KRW. This is because each team has already been provided with one laptop, making additional distribution difficult. However, frontline police officers argue that additional laptops are necessary as they are used for tracking the dark web (an online space accessible only through special routes) and analyzing virtual assets.

Additionally, next year's budgets for the following items have been frozen: virtual asset tracking system (935 million KRW), simple reagent devices (372 million KRW), hosting international conferences (34 million KRW), attending international conferences (65 million KRW), and advanced overseas drug education (61 million KRW).

The only budget increase was in the 'rental of unmarked vehicles' category. This budget is used when renting cars from rental companies during the arrest of drug offenders. However, even this increase was due to the addition of fuel costs, which were not previously included.

Rep. Jeong said, "Although a war on drugs has been declared verbally, the preparations for the war are not in place," and added, "The Commissioner of the National Police Agency must devote all efforts to securing essential budgets and personnel to restore the status as a drug-free country."

The response time for precise drug analysis by the National Forensic Service has also lengthened. The average response time per drug analysis case, which was 9.1 days in 2019 and 2020, increased by one day to 10 days in 2021. During the same period, the number of drug analysis requests rose by 10,000, from around 60,000 to 70,000 cases.

Despite the government's declaration of war on drugs, support for the police and the National Forensic Service has not been adequately provided, causing difficulties on the ground. In fact, the number of dedicated drug researchers at the National Forensic Service did not increase for two consecutive years in 2020 and 2021, with only two additional personnel added this year.

Some point out that the police budget has not significantly increased because it is at the 'vice-ministerial' level. They interpret that unless the police establish a status appropriate to the adjustment of investigative authority between prosecutors and police, it will be difficult to secure additional budgets and personnel in the future. A police official stated, "Not only the drug budget but other budgets also rarely see significant increases," adding, "If an adequate budget is not secured, investigations will also face setbacks."

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