'Gangnam Hagwon District Drug Drink' Main Perpetrator in 20s Sentenced to 23 Years in Prison on Appeal

The main suspect in his 20s, accused of leading the drug beverage crime in the academy district of Gangnam, Seoul, was sentenced to a heavy prison term again in the second trial.

On the 11th, the Criminal Division 6-2 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judges Choi Eun-jung, Lee Ye-seul, Jung Jae-oh) sentenced Lee Mo (27), who was tried for violating the Narcotics Control Act (psychotropic substances) and other charges, to 23 years in prison, stating that "there is no factual error or legal misinterpretation in the original judgment," the same as the first trial.

Lee was tried on charges of instructing domestic and international accomplices to manufacture and distribute the so-called ‘drug beverage,’ a mixture of methamphetamine and milk, while staying in China from October 2022.

According to the investigation, the accomplices, following Lee’s instructions, provided the drug beverage to 13 minors at a tasting event called ‘concentration enhancement beverage’ in the academy district of Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu, last April, and threatened the parents of the students who drank the beverage by contacting them and saying, “Your child has taken drugs, so we will report to the police,” attempting to extort money.

Meanwhile, Gil Mo (27), the manufacturer of the drug beverage who was indicted earlier than Lee, had his 18-year prison sentence confirmed by the Supreme Court last September. Three other accomplices were sentenced to 7 to 10 years in prison.