Gangnam 'Drug Drink' Case Behind... High Possibility of Chinese Voice Phishing Organization Involvement

Seoul Gangnam Police Station announced on the 5th that they have arrested and are investigating a woman in her 40s, A (49), on suspicion of handing drinks containing drugs to high school students near Gangnam-gu Office Station and Daechi Station academy districts around 6 p.m. on the 3rd, violating the Narcotics Control Act. The photo shows the bottles of drinks handed to the victims by the suspects. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Attention is focused on the possibility that the 'drug beverage' incident in the Gangnam academy district is an organized crime by a 'voice phishing' gang based in China. The police are concentrating on identifying the specific crime structure and individuals involved.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Narcotics Crime Investigation Unit is interrogating Gil and Kim, who are suspected of manufacturing and delivering the drug beverage and manipulating phone numbers for threatening calls, respectively, on the 9th, to trace their 'superiors.'

It is reported that A, a South Korean national residing in China, instructed Gil to manufacture the drug beverage by mixing methamphetamine and milk. The police are backtracking the delivery route of the empty bottles imported from China.

Gil testified that he obtained methamphetamine using the so-called 'drop-off' method, where drugs are left at designated locations.

Gil has been charged with sending the drug beverage manufactured in Wonju, Gangwon Province, to four part-time workers in Seoul via express bus and courier service, and an arrest warrant has been requested.

Kim has been charged with manipulating Chinese internet phone numbers into domestic mobile phone numbers using a relay device during the gang's threatening calls to victim parents, and an arrest warrant has been requested.

The pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant hearing) for them will be held at 3 p.m. on the 10th at the Seoul Central District Court.

Many of the apprehended individuals are directly or indirectly connected to the Chinese voice phishing organization. Also, the empty bottles containing the drug beverage came from China, and the threatening calls to parents originated from China.

Earlier, on the afternoon of the 3rd, four men and women in their 20s to 40s paired up in twos near Gangnam-gu Office Station and Daechi Station in Seoul, handing out drug beverages to students under the pretext of a 'concentration enhancement drink' tasting event.

They collected parents' phone numbers from students, claiming it was necessary to confirm purchase intentions.

Subsequently, victim parents received threatening calls from the gang, who spoke with a Joseonjok accent, saying, "We will report to the police or inform the school that your child has taken drugs."

It is known that a total of eight people, including one parent, consumed the drug beverage.

All four individuals who distributed the drug beverage were either arrested or surrendered to the police, and they testified that they had only applied after seeing an online part-time job advertisement and did not know the beverage contained drugs.

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