Drug crime hits record high, top offenders include young people and foreigners

A sniffer dog demonstrates drug detection skills on luggage at Incheon International Airport on Aug. 11, 2022, during a government campaign against drug smuggling. [YONHAP]

Local authorities busted more than 18,000 drug offenders last year, the highest number to date and a nearly 50-percent increase from 2018.

In its latest narcotics white book released Wednesday, the Narcotics & Organized Crimes Division of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office noted an upward trend in drug use and smuggling among younger people and foreigners.

Last year, 18,395 people were charged with a drug offense, up 45.8 percent compared to 2018, when 12,613 offenders were nabbed. The total number of drug offenders went from 16,044 in 2019 to 18,050 in 2020 and 16,153 in 2021.

About 46 percent of last year’s offenses were for drug use, while 19 percent were for drug sales. Another 9.3 percent were for drug cultivation and 7.6 percent were for drug smuggling.

Among last year’s drug offenders, 10,988 people, or 59.8 percent, were under the age of 40. In comparison, 41.8 percent of the drug offenders in 2018 were under 40 years old.

About 2.6 percent of last year’s drug offenders were in the 10 to 19 age bracket, 31.6 percent were aged between 20 and 29 while 25.6 percent were aged 30 to 39.

The prosecution blamed the dark web and social media platforms for the circulation of drugs among Korea's youth.

“There recently has been a sharp increase in the use of the internet and social media to post advertisements for illicit drug sales, leading to easier access to drugs for the general public,” the white book read.

The number of foreign drug offenders has also risen over the years from 948 in 2018 to 1,529 in 2019 and 1,958 in 2020, followed by 2,339 in 2021 and 2,573 last year.

Those who were specifically charged with drug smuggling also rose by nearly 167 percent last year compared to 2018, from 521 to 1,392.

Of last year’s drug smugglers, 301 were Thai, 110 were Chinese and 85 were Vietnamese.

“While foreigners account for approximately 14 percent of total drug-related offenses, their involvement in drug smuggling constitutes around 40 percent of total cases, which is serious,” the prosecution said in a statement.

In all, authorities confiscated 804.5 kilograms of narcotics last year, 76.6 percent of which were psychotropic drugs such as philopon, also known as methamphetamine or meth.

The amount of confiscated Yaba, a combination of meth and caffeine, which means “crazy medicine” in Thai, rose by nearly eightfold last year compared to 2020.

BY LEE SUNG-EUN [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]