Gangnam-gu Initiates Special Inspection to Address Drug Cases in Daechi-dong Academy District

Published 11 Apr.2023 07:05(KST)

Special patrols around 80 elementary, middle, and high schools and Daechi-dong academy district for 2 weeks from the 10th to the 21st, with 177 banners posted

Over 200 residents hold a drug eradication campaign at 4:30 PM on the 12th

Gangnam-gu (Mayor Jo Seong-myeong) held an emergency countermeasure meeting on the 7th regarding the recent drug beverage incident in the Daechi-dong academy district, and from the 10th to the 21st, 13 departments (dong) will conduct special inspections and campaigns in the Daechi-dong academy area over a two-week period.

Special patrols around 80 schools and Daechi-dong academy district, 177 banners posted

To prevent similar damages related to the drug incident, the district will conduct special inspections around 80 elementary, middle, and high schools in the area from the 10th to the 21st. Four patrol teams of two people each will focus on patrolling around schools during dismissal times. They plan to build a special inspection safety network in close cooperation with the Gangnam-Seocho Office of Education and the Academy Association. In four dongs with dense academy areas, including Daechi 1, 2, and 4-dong and Samsung 2-dong community centers, patrols will be conducted twice daily, and drug eradication will be promoted through professional organization campaigns.

Additionally, a special patrol team of 13 members will crack down on illegal street vendors day and night until the 30th of this month. Illegal vendors will be immediately removed upon discovery, and promotional activities involving beverages of unclear origin will be intensively monitored. Furthermore, 53 members of the Youth Harmful Environment Monitoring Group, organized by the Korea Youth Development Association Suseo District, will patrol the Daechi-dong academy district and student-dense areas once a week until June.

The Gangnam Urban Control Center will conduct 24-hour intensive monitoring through 708 security CCTVs installed at 200 locations in Daechi 1, 2, and 4-dong. Suspicious individuals approaching students, scenes of handing over beverages, or people loitering in specific areas will be immediately reported to the police.

Along with this, banners will be posted at 177 locations including the Daechi-dong academy district, local elementary, middle, and high schools, youth facilities, and libraries. The banners will display cautionary messages such as “Improving concentration is bait! Don’t drink, report it!” and “Strange beverages targeting students, never drink them!” along with drug suspicion reporting numbers. Especially since many students come to the Daechi-dong academy district from outside Gangnam-gu, banners will be concentrated there to increase student awareness. Additionally, drug eradication promotional content will be posted on 16 media platforms including the district’s official website, four official SNS channels such as KakaoTalk, and 2,065 digital signboards.

Gangnam-gu Initiates Special Inspection to Address Drug Cases in Daechi-dong Academy District

Over 200 residents hold a street campaign for drug eradication in Daechi-dong academy district on the 12th

A public-private joint drug eradication campaign will be held in the Daechi-dong area. At 4:30 PM on the 12th, about 100 members of the Gangnam-gu Council for the Promotion of Right Living will gather at Lotte Department Store near Hanti Station to conduct the campaign. The council will split into two groups: one will march from Hanti Station to Seoul Daechi Full Gospel Church, and the other will promote on the streets from Hanti Station to Doseong Elementary School intersection, Daechi intersection, Eunma Apartment intersection, and Daechi Full Gospel Church.

On the 6th, Daechi 2-dong Community Center conducted a public-private joint campaign with Suseo Police Station around Daechi intersection. On the 12th, from 4:50 PM to 6 PM, over 100 members including professional organization members, Daechi Police Substation, and Green Mothers’ Club members from Daehyeon Elementary and Daegok Elementary will hold a campaign. Starting from in front of Daechi 2-dong Community Center, they will conduct an all-around campaign through Eunma Apartment intersection, Daechi intersection, Huimun High School intersection, and Woosung intersection.

Strengthening drug prevention education and psychological counseling support

Since last year, the district has been providing education on the side effects and harms of drugs to 18,140 residents including students, adults, and seniors at 78 institutions such as daycare centers. The district plans to add recent crime cases and educational content to prevent similar crimes to the drug prevention education materials. Also, by May, prevention education on drug abuse and personal information protection will be conducted for students at 19 child and youth facilities including youth centers.

The district will provide psychological counseling at the Gangnam-gu Youth Psychological Support Center Saishim for students who experience mental shock and anxiety due to this incident. If drug crime victims occur, they will be linked to Eunpyeong Municipal Hospital for drug detection tests and receive aftercare through the Korea Drug Prevention Movement Headquarters’ Drug Addiction Rehabilitation Center.

Jo Seong-myeong, Mayor of Gangnam-gu, stated, “We will strengthen focused patrols in cooperation with the Office of Education and the police to prevent similar crimes,” and added, “We will continue to conduct campaigns and prevention education to eradicate illegal activities such as drugs.”