Prosecutors Seek to Strengthen Investigative Capabilities
to Respond to Evolving Drug Crimes
On the 4th, the Drug and Organized Crime Division of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office held the '2025 Nationwide Drug Task Force Prosecutors Workshop' at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office with 37 drug-specialized prosecutors nationwide to strengthen the prosecution's response capabilities against drug crimes evolving in various forms.
The workshop participants discussed measures to respond to drug crimes and strengthen investigative capabilities at the frontline offices, including ▲investigation techniques for tracking drug distribution offenders using SNS, dark web, and virtual assets ▲investigation techniques for drug smuggling crimes and international cooperation ▲investigation techniques for medical narcotics crimes ▲customized treatment and rehabilitation plans for drug addicts.
Additionally, the prosecution set this year's key response plans for drug crimes and ensured that opinions from the investigation field were actively reflected in the prosecution's policy through discussions on drug crime response measures. To enhance response capabilities, the prosecution plans to establish an online drug distribution crime crackdown system and focus on preemptively blocking drug inflows through international cooperation. Intensive crackdowns on establishments exclusively for foreigners will also be conducted.
According to the prosecution, the number of drug offenders caught last year was 23,022, exceeding 20,000 for two consecutive years, and new types of crimes using SNS, dark web, and virtual assets are increasing. In particular, offenders aged 30 and under accounted for 63.6% of the total, indicating a serious spread of drugs among the younger generation. The prosecution diagnoses that the spread of drugs among youth, including adolescents, causes mental and physical problems to talents who will play a leading role in future society and signals a crisis that drug problems in our society may persist for a longer period, as seen in overseas cases.
Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung urged the prosecutors attending the workshop, saying, “The most faithful role the prosecution must fulfill to gain the public’s trust is to protect the people from 'crimes affecting daily life,' and drug crimes are among the most serious of these. Therefore, please take pride and do your best for the health and safety of the people.”
The prosecution plans to continue strengthening and developing investigative capabilities against drug crimes to thoroughly block the domestic inflow and distribution of drugs, while suppressing demand through effective treatment and rehabilitation for drug users. The prosecution explained, "We will activate the nationwide regional 'Drug Investigation Working Group' and conduct thorough investigations and crackdowns on drug supply and distribution crimes centered on this group. For simple users such as youth, we will provide broad opportunities for treatment and rehabilitation through judicial-treatment-rehabilitation linkage models."
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