Drug Review Posts and Even Pornographic Chat Rooms Opened... Telegram Drug Dealers Boldly Operating

Telegram, Major Route for Drug Trade
Increase in Drug Offenders Using the Internet

Photo by Getty Images Bank

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] "'Ice' (a slang term for methamphetamine) specialist here. We will serve you reliably."

The methods of dealers operating drug group chat rooms on Telegram and conducting transactions are becoming increasingly bold. They not only share photos and video reviews taken after drug use but also run various group chat rooms to recruit buyers and carry out drug transactions.

On the 4th, a Telegram chat room posted real-time reviews about the quality(?) of methamphetamine after use. The review posts were shared at the request of the dealers and were used to advertise drugs.

Another dealer joined a link-sharing room (Linggongbang) to recruit buyers. Linggongbang refers to places where URLs to illegal pornography chat rooms or illegal gambling sites are shared, and the dealer promoted their drug room there. They also directly created and operated free chat rooms. In these rooms, information related to drugs, illegal pornography, and short videos and photos for entertainment were posted. Hundreds of people gathered in these chat rooms, and promotional posts for drug rooms were posted intermittently.

On Telegram, several drug dealers have been recruiting buyers, leading to conflicts among them. A common tactic is to impersonate a specific dealer’s nickname to pretend to trade and then 'eat and run.' They also take money without delivering goods, and even if a transaction occurs, they spread posts claiming the quality is low.

Currently, Telegram is used as a major route for drug distribution. On the 17th of last month, Mr. A, who was indicted for violating the Narcotics Control Act by purchasing and inhaling drugs through Telegram, was sentenced to 10 months in prison. He deposited money into an account provided by a dealer active on Telegram and received drugs at a public phone booth near a subway station in Seocho-gu, Seoul. He is accused of using the so-called 'freebase' method by placing the drug on a glass cup and heating it to inhale the smoke at his residence in Gwangjin-gu.

According to the National Police Agency’s National Investigation Headquarters (Guksubon), drug offenders using the internet are increasing. From March 1 to May 31, Guksubon conducted a three-month intensive crackdown on drug offenders and arrested 2,626 people. Among them, 34% (892 people) were internet-related offenders, a 12.6% increase from the previous year.

A police official said, "We have identified that the number of drug dealers active on social networking services (SNS) such as Telegram is continuously increasing," adding, "We are monitoring and investigating SNS where drug transactions occur and will continue to respond actively."