Crypto-powered Drug Trafficking Spiralling: South Korean Police Fight Back

South Korean prosecutors have exposed an alarming rise in crypto-powered drug trafficking nationwide. The Supreme Prosecutor's Office's Narcotics and Organized Crime Department released its latest Drug Crime White Paper on June 26, as Seoul Kyungjae and Chungcheong Today reported.

According to this document, police arrested 27,611 people for drug-related offenses in the past 12 months. This marks a significant 50.1% increase from 2022. The paper's authors highlighted that the main factor driving this rise was a change in the patterns of drug trafficking.

Previously, drugs were sold in person. However, traffickers now prefer non-face-to-face transactions and use anonymity-protecting solutions such as cryptocurrency and secure chat apps.

Prosecution officials explained that the vast majority of these crimes are conducted via Telegram. In most cases, dealers ask for payment in tokens such as Bitcoin (BTC). These figures represent an increase of nearly seven times compared to 2019 statistics.

More Women Using Crypto-powered Drug Trafficking Networks, Data Shows

The white paper also pointed out other worrying trends, including a rise in drug crimes involving non-Koreans and women. The data shows that 32% of those arrested were female, while 3,151 foreign nationals were arrested for drug-related crimes in the same period.

In many cases, these crimes have involved smuggling networks, with Southeast Asian nationals and South Koreans using drug mules to cross borders with narcotics.

South Korea's strict anti-drug policies have previously enjoyed success, which has driven up the street value of narcotics. Many have sought to capitalize on this by buying narcotics for lower prices in Southeast Asia before selling them in South Korea.

Teen Crypto-powered Drug Trafficking Rockets

More concerning still, the paper noted, was a sharp rise in teen crypto-powered drug crime. The number of drug offenders aged 19 or less stood at just 239 in 2019 but has since ballooned to 1,477 last year. The proportion of teenagers among all drug offenders has shot up from 1.5% to 5.3% in the same period.

Prosecutors noted that 241 teenage drug offenders were arrested in April this year alone. In 2019, only 241 of all the drug offenders arrested were students. However, the latest figures have jumped up to 1,347.

By nationality, the most significant number of foreign nationals arrested in South Korea for drug offenses was Thai, with 1,149 arrests. Hundreds of Chinese and Vietnamese nationals were also arrested in the same period, as well as 177 United States nationals.

Officers pointed to a rise in national "branch-type distribution organizations," which "take advantage of the anonymity of the dark web, security-focused encrypted messaging apps, and cryptocurrencies."

Prosecutors said they intended to respond by strengthening overseas cooperation networks with their overseas counterparts. The prosecution service has recently sent several investigators to the Thai Office of the Narcotics Control Board.

In addition, prosecution officials said the Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office had teamed up with the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office and the Busan District Prosecutors' Office. The three offices have begun operating a Dark Web Investigation Team investigating social media platforms.

Police Thwart 'Korean-Vietnamese Drug Smuggling Network'

Officers have also invested in an Internet Drug Crime Information Acquisition System and solutions that let them monitor blockchain protocols. They have been working closely with domestic crypto exchanges to crack down on crypto-powered drug crime.

Police in North Chungcheong Province, meanwhile, have released their data on crypto-powered drug crime. This points to a 5.6-fold rise in drug crime in the province over the past decade. The province's police force last month arrested 34 suspected gang members on drugs-related crime charges.

Officers confiscated drugs with a street value of over $1 million from the gang's hideouts, seizing ketamine, methamphetamine (crystal meth), and synthetic marijuana.

Police said officers caught the group after analyzing Telegram messages; cryptocurrency flows on blockchain networks, and CCTV footage from over 1,000 locations nationwide.

North Chungcheong Province Provincial Police Agency officials said the group "smuggled drugs from Vietnam via international courier services."

They then reportedly liaised with buyers via the Telegram app. Officers concluded that they transacted via a cryptocurrency agency to avoid police detection.