[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The Supreme Court has ruled that sending money to purchase narcotics, even if the goods are not received, can be considered as the "commencement of an illegal act" and punishable as a drug transaction.
The Supreme Court's 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Kim Sang-hwan) overturned the lower court's partial acquittal in the appeal trial of Mr. A, who was charged with violating the Narcotics Control Act (marijuana) and other charges, and sent the case back to the Seoul High Court with a guilty verdict on the 27th.
The court stated, "In cases of drug transactions prohibited by law, if there is an act close to or closely connected with selling or buying, it should be regarded as the commencement of the crime."
Accordingly, if Mr. A transferred the payment to the seller, this is "an act close to or closely connected with the purchase of narcotics and can be seen as the 'commencement of drug transaction'."
Mr. A was prosecuted for transferring between 80,000 and 570,000 won to the seller four times in December 2018 to purchase marijuana and ecstasy.
Among the four transactions, Mr. A received the goods as promised in only one case, while in the other three cases, he sent money but did not receive the goods.
The first trial sentenced Mr. A to one year in prison, considering all transactions guilty despite some being incomplete attempts.
However, the second trial found only the one completed transaction guilty and reduced the sentence to 10 months in prison.
The court judged that merely paying the drug transaction price is difficult to be regarded as the "execution of purchase," which involves transferring the authority or possession of the narcotics to the buyer.
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