One in Four Drug Offenders Involved in 'Internet Transactions'... Dark Web Accounts for 9%

Nearly 300 Teenage Drug Offenders

One in four drug offenders was found to have traded drugs through the internet, including social networking services (SNS).

According to the 'Drug Offender Arrest Status' received by Rep. Jung Woo-taek of the People Power Party from the National Police Agency on the 7th, out of 12,387 drug offenders last year, 3,092 (25%) bought and sold drugs through the internet. This is a 104% increase compared to 2018, when 1,516 out of 8,107 drug offenders (18.7%) were caught trading drugs online.

Among them, 1,097 drug offenders used the dark web or virtual assets last year, accounting for 9% of the total. The dark web refers to websites that are not exposed to general search engines and can only be accessed through special routes.

The number of drug offenders using the dark web and virtual assets was only 85 in 2018 and 82 in 2019. However, it jumped to 748 in 2020, then increased to 832 in 2021, and 1,097 last year.

The number of teenage drug offenders is also steadily increasing. Last year, 294 teenagers were arrested for drug offenses, about three times the 104 in 2018. This year, 120 have been arrested as of March.

Rep. Jung said, "The number of drug offenders related to the internet, dark web, and virtual assets, which was 1,516 in 2018, has greatly increased to over 3,000 last year," adding, "The prosecution, police, and the government must restore the country's status as a drug-free nation through a war on drugs."

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