Accused pot dealer surrenders after returning to Korea

An indoor marijuana grow facility discovered by Bukbu Provincial Police Agency last October. [NATIONAL POLICE AGENCY]

The grandson of the founder of a major Korean textile company accused of dealing marijuana turned himself in less than a week after prosecutors announced that he and two other suspects were on the lam overseas.

According to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on Monday, the 43-year-old grandson of Hanil Synthetic Fiber founder Kim Han-soo flew back to Korea on Saturday.

The Korean authorities last week said they had asked Interpol to issue an arrest alert.

Prosecutors last week indicted 17 people, including celebrities and scions of the founders of major Korean companies, for allegedly consuming or distributing illicit drugs.

The indictments did not include the three overseas fugitives, all of whom have been identified.

Kim is accused of selling marijuana to the 39-year-old grandson of the founder of Koryo Steel between 2021 and February 2022.

He fled the country last year after investigators intensified their pursuit of drug users and traffickers.

Prosecutors began investigating last September when the police busted a 39 year-old individual accused of selling marijuana.

Investigators subsequently tracked down other suspected drug users or dealers, including the grandson of the founder of Namyang Dairy, the son of a former high-ranking government official and a member of a family tied to a financial holding company.

One user was growing marijuana at home with a child in the house, while another smoked marijuana on a trip overseas with his pregnant wife.

Drug crimes have been rising in recent years, according to the National Police Agency.

Some 5,702 drug offenders were apprehended between August and December last year, up 38.2 percent from the same period of the previous year. Of those offenders, 791 were arrested.

Drug use is rapidly spreading among the youth, too.

In Incheon, three high school seniors were arrested after they were caught selling drugs through Telegram.

After purchasing the drugs from a wholesaler at one-tenth of the market price, the teenagers hired six people in their 20s and 30s who sold the drugs, which included meth and LSD as well as ecstacy worth 400 million won ($333,000).

"As a percentage, teenage drug crime is not big," said a police officer. "But it is certainly rising."

The number of teenage drug crimes rose from 164 in 2019 to 309 in 2021.

The number of foreigners involved in drug trafficking in Korea is rising rapidly, too.

In 2018, there were 596 foreign drug criminals. Last year, that figure surged to 1,757.

Thai nationals accounted for the most drug criminals with 355, followed by Chinese nationals with 237 and Vietnamese nationals with 179.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO, HWANG YEA-LIN [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]