Jeju Police Agency Holds 'Provincial Related Agencies Council' to Eradicate Drug Crimes

[Jeju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Jeongpil] Jeju Police Agency (Chief Lee Sangryul) announced on the 2nd that it held a council meeting for collaboration, including various information exchanges related to narcotics, with related organizations in the province.

The related organizations in the province included five agencies: the National Intelligence Service, Immigration and Foreigners Office, Customs Service, Coast Guard, and Public Health Center.

At the council meeting, Jeju Police emphasized the need to make every effort to eradicate narcotics crimes before they spread further.

Through this working-level council, narcotics information such as overseas intelligence, customs clearance and distribution information, and medical information held by each agency will be integrated and utilized to greatly enhance the effectiveness of crackdowns. They also decided to strongly respond to narcotics crimes by conducting joint crackdowns in cooperation with each agency.

Recently, narcotics distribution has increased in non-face-to-face transactions as internet trading has become active after COVID-19, and the number of narcotics offenders in their 20s and 30s has significantly increased, showing a trend of younger age groups, with the number of arrests increasing every year.

This year, the Jeju Police Agency arrested a total of 86 narcotics offenders until last month, an increase of 115% compared to the same period last year (40 people).

By age group, arrests increased in the order of people in their 40s (27 people, 31.4%), 20s (21 people, 24.4%), and 30s (19 people, 22%). Among them, 78% (67 people) were involved in the trade and use of psychotropic drugs rather than traditional narcotics or marijuana.

To strongly respond to narcotics crimes, Jeju Police significantly increased dedicated investigation personnel by adding one team from the International Crime Investigation Team, one team from the Violent Crime Investigation Unit, and one detective team from each police station to the Narcotics Crime Investigation Unit, which had been solely responsible for narcotics investigations.

A joint task force to eradicate narcotics crimes was also formed, consisting of eight functions centered on the Criminal Division Chief of Jeju Police Agency, including the Cyber Crime Investigation Unit, Security Investigation Unit, Foreign Affairs Intelligence Division, 112 Comprehensive Situation Room, Public Relations Office, and Crime Information Team.

Additionally, a comprehensive response system is being operated according to functional roles, including intelligence collection related to narcotics, joint crackdowns and inspections, and work support.

Since there are limits to fundamentally blocking narcotics crimes through the police's limited crackdowns and responses, a close cooperative system has been established through council meetings with related agencies such as the National Intelligence Service for various information sharing and joint crackdowns related to narcotics.

A Jeju Police official said, "In the situation where narcotics crimes are increasing day by day, the moment one encounters narcotics out of curiosity or by mistake, it can cause irreversible consequences not only to oneself but also to the family, so nothing related to use, transport, or storage should be done."

He added, "If you become aware of information about suspected narcotics crimes or discover suspicious cases of narcotics trading through the internet or SNS, please report or tip off the police immediately."

Jeju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Jeongpil baekok@asiae.co.kr

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