A woman who supplied controlled substances to the driver involved in last month's Porsche crash off Seoul's Banpo Bridge has turned herself in to police, authorities confirmed.
According to police on March 3, the woman, identified as Ms. A, voluntarily visited Yongsan Police Station on the afternoon of March 2. She confessed to providing drugs to Ms. B, who crashed her Porsche SUV off Banpo Bridge on February 25.
Propofol injection vials, a controlled psychotropic substance, were discovered inside Ms. B's vehicle. Ms. A reportedly works at a hospital that has a business relationship with Ms. B, who runs a hospital marketing agency.
Police questioned Ms. A until early morning about how she obtained the drugs and the quantity she provided.
Ms. B has been identified as an influencer with 110,000 social media followers and CEO of a hospital marketing agency. She had frequently posted content showing herself receiving treatments at dermatology clinics. Her account was abruptly deleted after the accident.
Police are now investigating Ms. B on charges of drug-impaired driving under the Road Traffic Act, violation of the Narcotics Control Act, and causing injury through dangerous driving. Investigators are tracing the serial numbers on the propofol vials.
The accident occurred at approximately 8:44 p.m. on February 25, when Ms. B's black Porsche SUV struck a guardrail on Banpo Bridge and plunged onto the Han River embankment below. Large quantities of propofol, sedative anesthetics, and disposable syringes were found in the vehicle.
Ms. B and a male driver in his 40s, whose Mercedes-Benz was struck by the Porsche, were both hospitalized with injuries. Neither suffered life-threatening conditions.
Propofol is an intravenous anesthetic commonly used for sedation during endoscopies. Under current law, it is classified as a psychotropic substance that can only be handled by medical professionals or institutions. External removal from medical facilities is prohibited. Civilians possessing propofol face up to five years in prison or fines up to 50 million won.
The incident has renewed concerns about lax oversight of controlled medical substances. According to data released by the National Police Agency last month, 395 doctors were arrested for narcotics-related offenses in 2024—the highest since records began in 2023.
Traffic accidents caused by drug-impaired driving surged from 24 cases in 2023 to 70 in 2024, reaching 75 last year.
A bill requiring hospitals to designate narcotics managers based on prescription volume rather than number of physicians, and mandating such managers even at facilities handling only psychotropic drugs, has been stalled in the National Assembly for over a year.
"We are strengthening supervision of medical businesses handling narcotics by creating annual guidelines, conducting local government training, and carrying out regular and special joint inspections," a Ministry of Food and Drug Safety official said.