Prosecutors Request Arrest Warrant for Yoo Ah-in on Drug Use Charges

The prosecution has requested an arrest warrant for actor Yoo Ah-in (real name Eom Hong-sik), who is suspected of drug use.

Actor Yoo Ah-in, who is suspected of drug use, is answering questions from reporters after completing a second investigation as a suspect in violation of the Narcotics Control Act at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Narcotics Crime Investigation Unit on the morning of the 17th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the legal community on the 22nd, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office filed an arrest warrant request for Yoo and his acquaintance A, who are accused of violating the Narcotics Control Act. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Narcotics Crime Investigation Unit had previously applied for an arrest warrant on the 19th, citing concerns over evidence tampering and flight risk regarding Yoo and A.

The pre-arrest detention hearing (warrant substantive examination) for Yoo and A is expected to be held this week at the Seoul Central District Court. Typically, the hearing for a pre-arrest warrant request, which is usually conducted without detention, is scheduled 3 to 5 days after the request date. If there are valid reasons, Yoo's side may request a change of the hearing date.

The police began their investigation after receiving records from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety showing that Yoo had been administered more than 4,400 ml of propofol over 73 occasions during the year 2021.

On February 5th, immediately after Yoo returned from the United States, the police collected urine and hair samples and requested a detailed analysis from the National Forensic Service. The test results detected four types of narcotics?marijuana, propofol, cocaine, and ketamine?in Yoo's urine and hair. Subsequently, suspicions increased to five types of narcotics after evidence emerged from Yoo's medical records indicating that zolpidem, a psychotropic drug, had been prescribed for non-medical purposes.

Yoo appeared twice as a suspect for lengthy police interrogations on March 27th and April 16th. He denies most of the charges except for some marijuana use. He claims that the use of propofol and ketamine was for medical treatment purposes and specifically denies using cocaine.

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