A foreign criminal organization that distributed mephedrone, the so-called "zombie drug" known to cause people to bite others' necks when overdosed, has been apprehended by the police in South Korea.
On May 2, the Seocho Police Station in Seoul announced that it had arrested five individuals, including a person identified as A of Uzbek nationality, on charges of violating the Narcotics Control Act, and that four of them have been detained.
The suspects are foreign nationals who entered South Korea from Uzbekistan, Russia, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan. Among them, A is accused of operating a drug distribution channel on Telegram, recruiting sellers and couriers, and selling drugs to Central Asian foreigners residing in South Korea.
Based on intelligence obtained by the National Intelligence Service in February last year, the police conducted a joint investigation and seized 150 grams of mephedrone and 10 grams of cannabis. The total street value of the confiscated drugs is approximately 30 million won, which is enough for about 1,500 people to use simultaneously.
A police official stated, "As there is a high risk of new synthetic drugs being smuggled into the country, we will strengthen efforts to block overseas supply chains and to uncover domestic distribution networks."
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