Surge in Drug Cases Among the Wealthy... Law Firms Also Compete for Clients

Prosecutors Consider Establishing Joint Investigation Headquarters

Mr. A, who was caught for illegal drug distribution, hired one of the top ten law firms from the early stages of the investigation. Mr. A offered a retainer fee in the hundreds of millions of won and requested that the mobile phone used in the drug transactions not be accepted as evidence.

As the illegal drug market expands, large law firms are also taking on drug-related cases.

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Hospital Directors and Wealthy Offspring Pay ‘Hundreds of Millions’ in Retainer Fees

In the legal community, the reason some large law firms are handling drug cases is attributed to changes in the social class of drug offenders. Those seeking major law firms for drug crimes are mostly wealthy individuals, hospital directors, doctors, and white-collar workers. They offer law firms retainer fees in the hundreds of millions of won to take on their defense.

A lawyer from large law firm B said, “In the past, drug crimes mainly occurred among lower social classes, but now they are frequent among the wealthy as well,” adding, “There are many cases where individuals were caught using party drugs at social gatherings, rather than typical drug addicts like ‘ppongjaengi’ (a slang term for methamphetamine addicts).”

Unlike in the past, these law firms handle not only simple drug use cases but also drug distribution cases. This is because the line between simple users and distributors has become blurred. A lawyer from large law firm C explained, “It is common for wealthy offspring or overseas students who lack cash to smuggle drugs into the country and trade with acquaintances,” adding, “With Telegram and overseas shipping making drug distribution easier, the boundary between professional distributors and simple users has become unclear.”

Hospital directors or doctors accused of illegally trading medical drugs such as propofol also seek large law firms. A lawyer from large law firm D said, “Considering social perception, we do not defend professional smugglers or traffickers, but we do represent hospital directors or doctors involved in illegal distribution of medical drugs,” adding, “As drug cases increase, large law firms have started taking on these cases.”

Some law firms are strengthening their expertise by recruiting former prosecutors specialized in drug cases. A lawyer from law firm E said, “Each firm is hiring former prosecutors who specialized in drug investigations,” adding, “Unless the case is socially condemned, most are accepted. Recently, there is even a growing sentiment questioning why distributor cases should not be accepted.”

58% of Drug Offenders Are in Their 20s and 30s

The main age group of drug offenders is people in their 20s and 30s. According to the Prosecutor General’s Office’s Drug Crime White Paper, among the 17,553 drug offenders caught up to September this year, 58.8% were in their 20s and 30s. Those in their 20s accounted for 31.9%, and those in their 30s made up 26.9%. By occupation, the unemployed accounted for 30.8% (5,399 people), company employees 5.4% (954 people), and laborers 4.3% (755 people). By gender, 71.8% were male and 28.2% female.

The number of drug offenders has steadily increased over the past five years. In 2023, 27,611 drug offenders were caught, an increase of about 70% compared to 16,044 in 2019. During the same period, the amount of seized drugs increased 2.8 times from 362.0 kg in 2019 to 998.0 kg in 2023. The amount seized up to September this year was 852.5 kg.

The prosecution is considering establishing a ‘Joint Task Force for Drug Crimes (합수본)’ to respond to drug crimes. The Ministry of Justice and the Prosecutor General’s Office are discussing plans to set up the task force in cooperation with related agencies such as the National Police Agency and the Korea Customs Service. However, since inter-agency consultations and organizational restructuring are required, many preliminary tasks remain, and the installation, scale, and operation methods have not yet been decided. A Prosecutor General’s Office official said, “We are reviewing various measures to eradicate drugs, and the establishment of the task force is one of them,” adding, “Nothing has been concretely decided yet.”

Reporter Im Hyun-kyung, Legal News

※This article is based on content supplied by Law Times.