[Youth Addicted to Drugs] 40% of Drug Offenders Arrested Are Aged 10-20... Drug Dealers Contacted in 5 Minutes

[Young People Addicted to Drugs - Part 1]

Drug Sales Chat Rooms Proliferate
Sharing Cannabis Cultivation and Evading Police Methods
Increasing Drug Offenders Among Mobile-Savvy MZ Generation

[Asia Economy Reporters Song Seung-yoon and Lee Jung-yoon] On the 16th, a promotional chatroom on the messenger app Telegram was accessed. At the top of the chatroom, a notice stating "All promotions except illegal information are allowed" caught the eye. However, contrary to this notice, most promotional posts were drug sales advertisements. The authors were selling drugs under plausible business names like "OO Ice" (a slang term for methamphetamine) and "XX's Tteol" (a slang term for marijuana), similar to open markets listed on portal sites. Such posts appeared at a rate of about one every five minutes. In another chatroom accessed through this one, marijuana cultivation methods were even shared. Here, detailed explanations were provided as if in an online lecture, covering everything from how to import seeds via international mail to cultivation methods and setting up the cultivation environment. There were also tips on avoiding crackdowns or evading investigations.

Finding drug-related chatrooms was not difficult. If one wished, it was possible to contact a drug dealer and complete a transaction within five minutes. Since these chatrooms were open to anyone, access by teenagers was also unrestricted. Because drug transactions themselves are illegal, naturally, there was no requirement to show identification during the transaction process.

Consequently, the proportion of young people familiar with mobile devices accessing drugs is gradually increasing. The percentage of teenagers is also showing an upward trend every year. According to the National Police Agency’s National Investigation Headquarters, which conducted an intensive crackdown on drug offenders for three months starting March 1, among the 2,626 people arrested during this period, 1,049 (40%) were in their teens and twenties. Specifically, by age group: 20s accounted for 947 people (36.1%), 30s 644 people (24.5%), 40s 436 people (16.6%), 50s 319 people (12.2%), 60s 104 people (4.0%), teens 102 people (3.9%), and those aged 70 and above 73 people (2.8%). Drug offenders using the internet numbered 892 (34%).

[Image source=Yonhap News]

A National Police Agency official explained, "In the past, drug-related information was exchanged quietly among existing drug offenders, but now the online space has become the main stage," adding, "Because it has become easier for ordinary people to access drugs, the number of drug offenders seems to be increasing accordingly." During the intensive crackdown period, the police arrested 614 out of the 2,626 suspects and seized illegal profits worth approximately 62 million KRW. They also proceeded with pre-indictment seizure procedures on virtual assets worth about 300 million KRW. Furthermore, to prevent the spread of drugs among younger age groups, the police are cooperating with related agencies such as the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the Ministry of Education to conduct preventive education and other measures.

The police official emphasized, "The age at which people come into contact with drugs is gradually lowering," and stated, "It is important not only for investigative agencies to crack down but also for educational institutions, local governments, and various sectors of society to establish safety measures such as preventive education for teenagers."