115 People Including Doctors and Baseball Players Arrested for Illegal Use of Medical Narcotics

200,000 to 300,000 KRW per Dose
41 Billion KRW in Illegal Profits Over 3 Years and 7 Months
Most Users in Their 20s and 30s

Doctors, baseball players, gangsters, and other users who have been illegally administering medical narcotics at their own hospitals were caught in large numbers by the police.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Metropolitan Investigation Unit's Narcotics Crime Investigation Division announced on the 13th during a briefing, "A man in his early 60s, Mr. A, his spouse (overall in charge), four counseling managers, ten nursing assistants, and 100 users, totaling 115 people, have been booked on charges including violation of the Narcotics Control Act and Medical Service Act." Mr. A was arrested and sent to prosecution in November last year, and the other 114 were also sent to the prosecution. Among the users, former professional baseball player Oh Jae-won was reportedly included.

According to the police, Mr. A is suspected of illegally obtaining 4.14051 billion KRW by administering anesthetic narcotics a total of 17,216 times under the pretext of cosmetic procedures at a hospital in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, from January 2021 to July last year. He charged 200,000 to 300,000 KRW per administration.

Mr. A administered sedative anesthetics (such as propofol and remimazolam) alone or combined with the general anesthetic etomidate to a total of 105 people. Among the 105, five who were not booked included a deceased person and Hong, known as the 'Lamborghini Man,' who had already been punished for habitual narcotics use.

The police seized 83.04 million KRW in cash from Mr. A to recover criminal proceeds and obtained a pre-indictment seizure order from the court for assets worth 3.32314 billion KRW, including real estate.

Mr. A is also charged with failing to report or falsely reporting 2,703 narcotics administration records to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS), falsifying 559 medical records, and illegally using others' resident registration numbers. These charges violate the Narcotics Control Act, Medical Service Act, and Resident Registration Act.

From January to November 2023, Mr. A is also accused of self-administering sedative anesthetics such as propofol a total of 16 times, either by himself or through nursing assistants. It was confirmed that Mr. A's spouse, counseling managers, and nursing assistants had no involvement in illegal narcotics administration.

The 100 users who received narcotics from Mr. A are charged with illegally receiving medical narcotics between 6 and 887 times each, using their own or others' names. Among them, two are accused of driving immediately after being discharged without waking from sedation. It was also confirmed that Mr. A used antidotes to help users wake up quickly from anesthesia before discharge to prevent illegal operations from being exposed due to accidents caused by users.

Among the 100 users, 83 were in their 20s to 30s. Some users received narcotics up to 28 times consecutively in one day or spent up to 10 million KRW per day or a total of 224 million KRW during the administration period.

The police explained that Mr. A continued his crimes openly even after learning in May last year that the clinic was under investigation. Mr. A operated on Sundays exclusively for illegal users and charged an additional 100,000 KRW per administration on the condition that users would not report narcotics use to the MFDS director. It was also confirmed that he managed illegal users by providing service administrations for occasions such as birthdays and release anniversaries and employing professional counseling staff.

Mr. A exploited the fact that etomidate, a general anesthetic, was not designated as a narcotic. Etomidate has similar efficacy and usage to propofol. Initially, Mr. A used only propofol, but from May 2023, to avoid crackdowns by health authorities and meet the increasing demand from illegal users through word of mouth, he combined 'propofol' with 'remimazolam' and 'etomidate' for administration.

A police official said, "Medical narcotics that do not meet medical standards can easily cause addiction depending on usage and dosage, so they should be avoided except in necessary situations," adding, "Since etomidate could be widely distributed illegally before being designated as a narcotic, we plan to expand investigations into this matter."