Seoul Police Agency Launches Prevention Campaign Against 'Drug Drinks' in Academy Districts... Emergency School Bell Issued

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced on the 6th that it will conduct intensive prevention activities related to the recent 'Drug-Infused Beverage Tasting Incident' that occurred in the Gangnam area.

The police arrested three out of four suspects who offered drug-containing beverages to students around the academy district in Gangnam, Seoul, on the 4th under the pretense of a beverage tasting event. They deceived students by claiming the drinks were good for memory and concentration enhancement and then handed them the beverages. Afterwards, they reportedly threatened the parents of the students who drank the beverages by saying, "If you do not pay money, we will report that your child used drugs." The police are continuing to track down the remaining suspect who has not yet been caught.

The police recognize this case as a serious social issue because drugs were administered to an unspecified number of adolescents and plan to carry out focused prevention activities to prevent recurrence.

On the same day, to prevent similar damage, the police issued an 'Emergency School Bell System' targeting 1,047 elementary, middle, and high schools throughout Seoul, as well as parents and students. The School Bell System is a mechanism that quickly disseminates information in the form of card news to students, teachers, and parents when new types of crimes targeting youth occur.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Through this, the police stated, "We aim to raise awareness so that students do not drink beverages given by strangers and to encourage prompt reporting to the police if similar cases occur, thereby preventing crimes using the same method in advance."

Starting today, intensive preventive patrol activities will be conducted from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., the time after school when academies are in use, in four academy-dense areas: Daechi-dong, Mok-dong, Junggye-dong, and Chang-dong. The local police stations (Suseo, Yangcheon, Nowon, Dobong) SPO and police riot squads will jointly carry out prevention activities targeting these academy-dense areas, and patrol activities will also be conducted in other academy-dense areas outside these four regions.

Since the 2nd of last month, drug-related cases and drug prevention topics have been included in the crime prevention education conducted at the beginning of the new semester.

Kim Kwang-ho, Commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, stated, "This Gangnam drug tasting incident is serious because the crime occurred targeting unspecified students at subway stations and academy districts," and added, "We plan to respond strictly through investigation."

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