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Number of drug offenders surpasses 20,000 for 2nd straight year

Published: 15 Jun. 2025, 16:38

Packets of methamphetamine seized by police from a smuggling ring accused of bringing the drug into Korea in large quantities [PYEONGTAEK POLICE PRECINCT]

The number of drug offenders in Korea surpassed the 20,000 mark for the second consecutive year in 2024, with people in their 20s and 30s accounting for over 60 percent of the total, data showed Sunday.

Last year, a total of 23,022 people were apprehended for drug-related offenses, down 16.6 percent from a record high of 27,611 in 2023, according to the annual drug crime report compiled by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.

The corresponding figure for 2020 stood at 18,050 and then dropped to 16,153 the following year, before surging to 18,395 in 2022 and 27,611 in 2023, setting new records for two years in a row.

Of those apprehended last year, 60.8 percent were people in their 20s and 30s, up from 54.5 percent in 2023.

The number of foreigners apprehended on drug-related charges also reached a record high of 3,232 people last year, driven partly by a surge in the overall number of foreign residents in the country.

Teenage drug offenders, on the other hand, fell by 56.1 percent from a year earlier to 649 in 2024, the same data showed.

Authorities confiscated 11,173.2 kilograms (24,632.7 pounds) of drugs last year, a 17.6 percent spike from the previous year.

Yonhap