Prosecution Arrests and Indicts Former National Baseball Player Oh Jae-won on Methamphetamine Use Charges

The prosecution has sent former professional baseball player and national team member Oh Jae-won (39), who is accused of habitual drug use, to trial while in custody.

Former professional baseball player and national team member Oh Jae-won, who was arrested on charges including violation of the Narcotics Control Act, is being transferred to a transport vehicle for prosecution at Gangnam Police Station in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, on March 29.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 17th, the Violent Crime Investigation Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Yeon-sil) announced that Oh was indicted in custody on charges including violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (retaliatory threats, etc.), violation of the Narcotics Control Act (psychotropic substances), special property damage, fraud, violation of the National Health Insurance Act, and violation of the Resident Registration Act.

Oh is accused of using methamphetamine a total of 11 times from November 2022 to November last year. In April last year, he stored about 0.4g of methamphetamine in a fire hydrant in the hallway of an acquaintance's apartment. Additionally, from January last year to March this year, he received prescriptions for a total of 2,242 tablets of Stilnox, a psychotropic drug, from nine acquaintances, then distributed them and purchased 20 tablets of Stilnox using the names of acquaintances without their consent.

Oh is also accused of threatening an acquaintance who tried to report his methamphetamine use by damaging their phone with a hammer and grabbing their collar. A prosecution official stated, "We will do our best to maintain the prosecution so that the defendant receives a sentence commensurate with the crime."

Oh was investigated for drug charges following a report by a woman he was with on the 9th of last month, and was released after a negative result in a simple drug test. However, the police detected evidence of Oh's drug use through additional investigations and arrested him ten days later. The Seoul Central District Court issued an arrest warrant for Oh on the 21st of last month.

Oh joined the Doosan professional baseball team in 2007 and retired in 2022. He represented the national team at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games and the 2015 Premier12 tournament.