Prosecutors Launch Special Investigation Teams for Drug Crimes in Four Major Regions: Seoul, Incheon, Busan, Gwangju

Customs Service, MFDS, Local Governments, and KISA Experts Deployed
18,395 Drug Offenders in 2022, Worst Ever
Drug Seizures in 2021 Increased 8 Times Compared to 2017

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] A special government-wide investigation team has been launched to respond to the rapidly increasing drug crimes.

According to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office on the 21st, a special drug crime investigation team composed of government-wide experts from the prosecution, Customs Service, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, four local governments, and the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) was launched on the same day at the four major regional prosecutors' offices nationwide (Seoul Central, Incheon, Busan, Gwangju).

The special investigation team includes 69 prosecution personnel: four chief prosecutors in charge of drug investigation departments leading each team, 11 dedicated drug prosecutors, and 54 drug investigators including 10 members of the dark web investigation team. In addition, the team consists of six members from the Customs Service, three from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, one each from Seoul, Incheon, Busan, and Gwangju cities totaling four, and two from KISA, making a total of 84 personnel.

In 2022, the number of drug offenders reached 18,395, marking a 13.9% increase compared to 16,153 in 2021, setting a record high. The amount of seized drugs, which was 154.6 kg in 2017, surged eightfold to 1,295.7 kg in 2021 within five years.

In particular, supply offenders involved in drug smuggling, trafficking, and manufacturing increased by 20.9%, from 4,045 in 2021 to 4,890 in 2022. Among them, smuggling offenders showed a sharp increase of 72.5%, rising from 807 in 2021 to 1,392 in 2022, showing a more distinct upward trend than simple drug use offenders.

Moreover, the proportion of offenders in their teens and twenties among all drug offenders increased 2.4 times in just five years, from 15.8% in 2017 to 34.2% in 2022.

The prosecution views the main causes of this rapid increase in drug crimes as ▲activation of non-face-to-face drug transactions using overseas direct purchase and the dark web ▲increase in domestic inflow of overseas drugs through international drug organizations and foreigners ▲illegal distribution of medical narcotics.

Looking at the transaction status by type, recent drug transactions mainly take place in a non-face-to-face manner called the 'throwing' method, where an organized distribution network is established step-by-step for smuggling, sales, transportation, and currency exchange, advertising on the dark web or SNS, and payment is made with cryptocurrency.

With the rapid increase in drug 'overseas direct purchase' using international mail, 70% (561.1 kg) of the total 804.5 kg of drugs seized in 2022 were confirmed to have been sent from foreign countries such as Laos, Thailand, the United States, and China, highlighting the serious problem of overseas smuggling.

Meanwhile, the spread of medical narcotics represented by propofol is also serious. Especially among those in their teens and twenties, fentanyl and the obesity treatment drug diethylamine, commonly called 'nabi-yak' (butterfly drug), have become highly popular, with many cases recently detected involving SNS advertisements and underground transactions.

Fentanyl is a painkiller for terminal cancer patients with 100 times the analgesic effect of heroin and is known to have a lethal dose of only 2 mg. Among the 107,622 drug overdose deaths in the United States last year, about 67% were caused by fentanyl, and fentanyl overdose is the leading cause of death among Americans aged 18 to 49.

Accordingly, the special drug crime investigation team plans to conduct strong joint investigations on a wide-area basis focusing on ▲internet drug distribution such as the dark web ▲large-scale drug smuggling and export/import ▲illegal distribution of medical narcotics.

KISA's specialized personnel for blocking and deleting drug sales advertisement sites will contribute their expertise in the field of internet drug distribution; Customs Service's specialized personnel at regional customs offices and airports/ports will focus on international drug smuggling; and medical and pharmaceutical experts from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and local governments will contribute in the field of medical narcotics distribution.

A prosecution official stated, "The special drug crime investigation team will do its utmost not only to block drug supply through extraordinary investigations but also to suppress drug demand through active treatment and rehabilitation measures so that Korea can become a drug-free country again."

Signboard of the Special Investigation Team for Drug Crimes, Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, Seocho-dong, Seoul. / Photo by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office

Since the revision of the 'Regulations on the Scope of Crimes for Prosecutors' Investigation Initiation' (Presidential Decree) in September last year, which enabled direct investigation of domestic distribution of narcotics, the prosecution has concentrated and additionally deployed drug investigators in the four major regional prosecutors' offices of Seoul Central, Incheon, Busan, and Gwangju, achieving results.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, from September 2022 for four months, indicted a total of 20 people including the third generation of a conglomerate family who distributed marijuana supplied by Korean Americans, children of former high-ranking officials, and entertainment agency representatives. Among them, 11 were arrested and prosecuted, seven were prosecuted without detention, and a total of 18 were brought to trial.

The Busan District Prosecutors' Office, in late December last year, uncovered an organization that smuggled about 50 kg of methamphetamine (with a market value of approximately 165 billion KRW) from Thailand, seized all the methamphetamine, and sequentially arrested three members of the organization, recently indicting them in custody.

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