[Youth Addicted to Drugs] Online Market Connecting Sellers and Buyers... Telegram Link Sharing Rooms as Channels

[Young People Addicted to Drugs - Part 2]

Increasing Participants to Expand the Network
Compensation System for No-Shows After Payment
Recruitment Ads for Middlemen and Delivery Workers
Hub for Online Drug Trade Activation
Difficult to Block Due to Foreign Companies

[Asia Economy Reporters Seungyun Song and Jeongyun Lee] The ease of drug transactions, comparable to online shopping, has been facilitated by the development of the online environment and Telegram’s link-sharing chat rooms (Linggongbang). Linggongbang are chat rooms where drug dealers gather to promote their products, functioning as a kind of ‘information marketplace’ that connects drug rooms with buyers.

On the 17th, a Linggongbang on Telegram showed a flood of real-time posts promoting drug rooms. These posts included the types of drugs handled, prices, regions where ‘deonjigi’ is possible, and URLs. These promotional posts serve as announcements preceding actual drug transactions. In the past, illegal pornography chat rooms or illegal gambling site links were mainly shared, but recently, specialized places promoting drug rooms have proliferated.

Another Linggongbang featured promotional posts claiming to handle drugs wholesale. There were also job advertisements seeking drug dealers to receive and sell goods and employees for so-called ‘deonjigi.’ ‘Deonjigi’ is a method where drugs are hidden in secret locations, and photos are sent to buyers so they can retrieve them. A market mediating drug transactions has thus formed around Linggongbang. To build trust, only dealers who have undergone a certain certification process can promote, and there is a systematic system that compensates fully if a drug dealer who appeared in the Linggongbang takes money but does not deliver drugs (a ‘meoktwi’ scam). Linggongbang operators mainly open these rooms to attract many participants and increase their influence within Telegram.

Linggongbang previously served as hubs for chat rooms distributing illegal sexual exploitation materials such as the ‘Nth Room’ and ‘Doctor’s Room.’ Jo Joo-bin (25), the operator of the Doctor’s Room, is also known to have directly operated a Linggongbang. Linggongbang played a central role in growing Telegram sexual exploitation chat rooms at the time and now contributes to the activation of online drug transactions.

The current Narcotics Control Act prohibits informing or presenting others with acts such as manufacturing or selling narcotics. Violations can result in imprisonment for up to three years or fines up to 30 million KRW. According to the 2020 Narcotics Crime White Paper published by the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, 104 people were caught advertising narcotics last year, more than double the previous year. In 2019 and 2018, 50 and 74 people respectively were caught advertising narcotics. The police continuously monitor narcotics advertising activities and are aware of this situation, but since the service is provided by a foreign company, there is no practical way to block or shut down these chat rooms.

Professor Woonghyuk Lee of Konkuk University’s Department of Police Science said, “A drug market with supply and demand has formed on Telegram, where suppliers can easily recruit people and buyers can easily access drugs. Linggongbang can further stimulate drug demand.” He added, “Efforts should be made to reduce drug supply through investigations and access blocks, while simultaneously working to reduce demand through education and promotional activities.”