Police arrested 5,203 people and detained 1,039 in a concentrated anti-drug crackdown from March to June.
The number of arrests rose by 1.8 percent from the same period last year, and the number of detentions increased by 7.8 percent.
Online drug offenders totaled 2,178, accounting for 41.9 percent of the total. Offenders in entertainment districts fell from 191 to 84, confirming a shift in drug distribution from the streets to online channels.
Police will launch a second-half crackdown from August 3 through the end of the year, focusing on online and foreign offenders. Managing teams to track virtual assets and pursuing treatment and prevention measures are also seen as key tasks.
The venue for drug distribution is shifting from the streets to online spaces. Transactions that evade crackdowns around clubs and entertainment districts are spreading in Telegram chat rooms and through virtual asset wallets.
The National Investigation Headquarters of the National Police Agency said on August 2 that it arrested 5,203 people and detained 1,039 during a concentrated crackdown from March to June on new types of drugs, medical narcotics, and drug crimes in entertainment districts.
The number of arrests rose by 94, or 1.8 percent, from the same period last year, while the number of detentions increased by 75, or 7.8 percent. The fact that the detention increase outpaced the arrest increase suggests that enforcement has shifted toward suppliers and organized offenders, whose crimes are more serious than those of users.
◆ Entertainment districts declined, online activity increased, and the market shifted
The changes in the figures show a structural shift in the drug market. Drug offenders in clubs and entertainment districts fell to 84 this year from 191 in the first half of last year, more than half the previous level. This has been attributed to the effectiveness of a joint government inspection campaign.
By contrast, offenders arrested in online spaces such as Telegram rose by 300 to 2,178, accounting for 41.9 percent of the total. That share was up more than 5 percentage points from 36.8 percent in the same period last year, suggesting that transactions moved to non-face-to-face spaces to avoid stronger enforcement.
Investigations targeting supply chains also gained weight. Offenders involved in manufacturing, smuggling, and sales numbered 2,040, or 39.2 percent of all arrests. That was a larger share than the 1,860 people, or 36.4 percent, recorded in the same period last year, and the number of manufacturing and smuggling offenders jumped 26.7 percent. The focus appears to be shifting from arresting users to dismantling supply networks.
Working with the National Intelligence Service and sharing overseas intelligence, police also conducted joint investigations with the Korea Customs Service and arrested a suspect who smuggled 42 kilograms of drugs from the United Kingdom into Daegu Airport. Criminal proceeds recovered during the investigation amounted to 3.84 billion won. The results are being seen as evidence that cooperation beyond a single agency, involving intelligence and customs authorities, is helping block smuggling.
◆ Telegram and virtual assets have lowered the barrier to entry for drugs
Behind the spread of online transactions is the lower barrier to access. Ordering in anonymous chat rooms, paying with virtual assets, and then retrieving hidden packages has become a standard non-face-to-face method. Because sellers and buyers never meet in person, tracing the transactions is difficult, and a division of labor among advertisers, couriers, and smuggling handlers further obscures the trail.
A recent court ruling revealed a concrete example of the transaction pattern. On July 23, the Seoul Eastern District Court sentenced to prison a defendant who sent 450,000 won to a Telegram seller and then retrieved about 1 gram of philopon that had been taped with insulating tape to the back of an iron door behind a building in Seongdong-gu, Seoul. The case confirmed through court records that the so-called drop-off method, in which a transaction is completed without the seller ever meeting the buyer, has become a routine way of buying and selling.
Police said new drugs are spreading mainly among younger people, as online access to drugs has become easier and methods of use have diversified, including electronic cigarette devices. In fact, offenders involving methamphetamine, synthetic cannabis, ketamine and other psychotropic substances totaled 4,300, accounting for 82.6 percent of the total.
The risks of medical narcotics are also growing. Offenders involved in illegal handling numbered 337, up 9.1 percent from the same period last year. In February, an incident occurred in which a person drove a vehicle after using propofol and crashed beneath Banpo Bridge, highlighting that the misuse of medical narcotics threatens not only users themselves but also public safety.
The increase in foreign offenders is also clear. Foreign drug offenders numbered 848, up 114, or 15.5 percent, from 734 in the same period last year. By nationality, Thais were the largest group at 275, followed by Chinese with 233 and Vietnamese with 147.
Among foreign arrestees, 400, or 47.2 percent, were supply offenders, far above the overall share of supply offenders for all cases, at 39.2 percent. This is being read as evidence that foreign resident communities in Korea are being used as distribution channels. If supply lines linking organizations in their home countries with local communities are formed, they can be rebuilt easily despite crackdowns, making early interdiction critical.
◆ Arrests alone are not enough; tracking, blocking, and treatment are the threefold challenge
Police will carry out a five-month concentrated crackdown in the second half of the year, from August 3 to December 31. Online and foreign drug crimes have been added to the new and medical narcotics that were already targeted in the first half.
Special teams at provincial police agencies will focus investigations on Telegram channel operators, advertising brokers, couriers, and smuggling handlers, and a dedicated virtual-asset tracking and investigation team of 41 members will also be deployed. For foreign crime cases, the international crime investigation units will lead intelligence gathering in densely populated areas and through merchant associations.
In a structure where the mastermind stays overseas and remotely directs the domestic distribution network, dismantling the organization is difficult without extradition. Critics say that supply disruption is only possible if cooperation channels with local investigative agencies and customs offices are made routine, as in the case of the extradition of Park Wang-yeol. Securing transaction data from platforms that keep servers overseas also remains a challenge for investigators.
There are also continuing calls for reducing demand, since enforcement alone has limited impact. If users who have been arrested return to society without treatment and rehabilitation, the cycle of reoffending will continue, so a response system that combines punishment with treatment and prevention education is needed. Because the main users of online transactions are younger generations, there are also calls to step up prevention education in schools and local communities.
Changes to the investigative system are another variable. Hong Seok-ki, head of the National Investigation Headquarters, said the police would prepare for changes in the investigative environment, including the creation of a new agency for serious crime investigations, so that there would be no gaps in the government’s anti-drug response system. Observers say role adjustments among agencies must proceed in parallel so that enforcement momentum does not weaken during the transition.
Hong Seok-ki, head of the National Investigation Headquarters, said, “We will strengthen cooperation with overseas investigative agencies, customs authorities, and other relevant organizations to block drugs from entering the country and concentrate police investigative capabilities on arresting domestic distribution offenders.” How far police can track the drug market that has retreated from the streets and hidden behind screens is expected to determine the outcome of the second-half crackdown.