South Korea's joint government drug investigation unit has arrested 124 suspects and seized drugs sufficient for 190,000 doses in its first 100 days of operation, uncovering cases involving government subsidy fraud and a civil servant working as a drug courier.
The Joint Drug Crime Investigation Headquarters, led by Chief Kim Bong-hyun, announced Wednesday that since its launch on November 21 last year, the unit has indicted 124 individuals and detained 56. Those arrested include 29 drug smuggling and cultivation suspects, 23 drug sales suspects, and 27 drug distribution suspects. Authorities confiscated 5.4 kilograms of methamphetamine, 6.1 kilograms of ketamine, and 2,557 ecstasy pills.
Among the cases, investigators discovered a cannabis cultivation operation funded by government agricultural subsidies. Two suspects, identified only as "A," were caught growing cannabis in an underground bunker beneath a vinyl greenhouse from September last year until recently. They had received smart farm startup subsidies and electricity discounts from the government while cultivating the drug under orders from a dark web dealer.
The crackdown also dismantled distribution networks spanning from low-level "droppers"—couriers who leave drugs at designated locations—to smugglers. Through simultaneous nationwide raids, authorities arrested 15 members from three organizations, including a Vietnamese smuggling ring.
A Grade 7 civil servant working at a metropolitan city hall, identified as "B," was apprehended after serving as a drug dropper for approximately one month starting in mid-December last year.
The investigation revealed that individuals in their 20s and 30s accounted for 75 percent of all arrests, with those in their 20s comprising 33 percent and those in their 30s 42.7 percent. Officials attributed this to the shift toward contactless, online drug transactions that appeal to digitally savvy younger generations.
The headquarters said it will continue cooperating with domestic and international agencies, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Intelligence Service, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, to intercept overseas shipments and extradite fugitive drug offenders.