Temptation of High-Paying Part-Time Jobs... 100 Teens and Others Arrested for Drug Distribution and Purchase

One hundred people, including teenagers and young adults in their 20s and 30s, who were involved in drug sales, distribution, or consumption, lured by high profits, were arrested by the police.

According to the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency on the 7th, the Metropolitan Investigation Unit of the provincial police arrested 18 people, including 14 individuals in their 20s and 30s and one teenager, who were hired by a drug sales organization and participated in transporting drugs, known as "drapers."

They also apprehended 82 others, including 67 people in their 20s and 30s and 4 teenagers, who purchased and consumed drugs from them.

The police arrested a total of 100 people on charges of violating Article 60, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 2 and Article 58, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 3 of the Narcotics Control Act, among whom 20 were detained.

The suspects are accused of distributing methamphetamine, synthetic marijuana, and other drugs nationwide through the social networking service (SNS) Telegram from February last year to February this year and consuming narcotics.

The Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency's Metropolitan Investigation Unit is retrieving drugs hidden by a distributor.
[Photo by Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency]

The distributors used a method called the "throwing technique," where they would disappear after leaving the drugs they received from the sales organization.

They hid drugs in secret locations such as gas pipe protection boxes in residential areas, window frames, and underground in hills in cities including Seoul, Busan, Daejeon, Daegu, and Gwangju.

The police explained that most drug distribution recently has been conducted online via SNS and is organized into roles such as overseas bosses, smuggling agents, domestic sales bosses, withdrawal agents, and transporters.

After confirming active drug advertisements and distribution through six public Telegram channels opened in February last year, the police sequentially arrested transporters and buyers by tracking virtual assets, communications, bank accounts, and analyzing CCTV footage, and are currently pursuing the sales organization.

During the arrest of transporters, the police seized drugs worth about 2 billion KRW, including 501g of methamphetamine, 47g of synthetic marijuana, 128 ecstasy pills, 62g of ketamine, and 28 Stilnox pills, as well as 520,000 KRW in cash. They also recovered 38.5 million KRW of criminal proceeds through pre-indictment seizure and confiscation.

Drugs and other evidence seized by the police.
[Photo by Gyeongnam Police Agency]

Police investigations revealed that the transporters were aware that drug distribution is a serious crime but got involved due to the temptation of high profits while being addicted to online gambling or burdened with excessive debt.

Buyers testified that they consumed drugs at clubs, entertainment bars, pensions, and party rooms, citing purposes such as entertainment, stress relief, and curiosity.

The provincial police agency plans to assign two cyber drug investigation officers to the Dark Web drug investigation team through personnel changes in the first half of this year to respond to related criminal methods and to block criminal profit channels through pre-indictment seizure and confiscation.

A police official from the provincial police agency said, "As non-face-to-face drug distribution through the internet and SNS such as Telegram increases recently, cases of drug use without resistance or guilt among people in their teens to 30s are rising. Some get involved in drug transportation after seeing advertisements promising high profits, but this can lead to heavy punishment as accomplices of the sales organization."

He added, "Narcotics devastate an individual's body and mind, and their addictive and hallucinogenic properties cause other crimes, inflicting great harm on society. Do not come into contact with them even out of curiosity," he emphasized.

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