Busan Youth Drug Offenders Surge... Reaching 70.9% of Total

Last year, drug offenders among young people in their teens to thirties in the Busan area surged.

According to the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency on the 16th, the number of drug offenders in the Busan area over the past four years was 822 in 2021, 898 in 2022, 1,529 in 2023, and 1,140 in 2024.

Last year's number of drug offenders slightly decreased compared to the record high in 2023. However, the number of drug offenders aged 10 to 30 reached 808, accounting for 70.9% of all drug offenders, showing a sharp increase. This is about a 20 percentage point rise compared to previous years when the proportion was around 50%. The police analyzed that the familiarity of the 10 to 30 age group with e-commerce influenced this trend.

The proportion of drug supply offenders involved in manufacturing, smuggling, and sales also showed an increasing trend, with 172 (20.9%) in 2021, 188 (20.9%) in 2022, 409 (26.7%) in 2023, and 393 (34.5%) in 2024. A police official stated, "Although the number of arrests, which was the highest ever in 2023, slightly decreased last year, this was the result of focusing crackdowns on supply offenders rather than simple offenders such as illegal cultivation and drug use."

Nationwide, there is also a trend of a sharp increase in drug offenders centered on young people in their teens to thirties who are familiar with using smartphones. According to the National Police Agency’s National Investigation Headquarters on the 31st of last month, the proportion of drug offenders aged 10 to 30 arrested last year was 63.4% (8,566 people), the highest figure in the past five years (2020?2024). During the same period, online drug offenders also accounted for 31.6% (4,274 people), the highest in five years.

The police have reported that online drugs using secure messengers such as Telegram and virtual assets are spreading as key channels for drug distribution in Korea recently, and have strengthened countermeasures by launching dedicated teams to eradicate this.