South Korean Police Arrest 34 in Swoop on Crypto-powered Drugs Smuggling Ring
South Korean police have arrested 34 people in a raid on a suspected crypto-powered drugs smuggling ring, officers announced on May 16.
Per Newsis, police seized 90,000 doses of drugs including methamphetamine (crystal meth), synthetic marijuana, and ketamine.
Officers said the ring used Vietnam-based smugglers to hide the drugs in cosmetics products.
Gang members then allegedly sent these products to South Korea via international courier services.
Police said they had remanded nine people in custody, including two suspected South Korean ringleaders (both aged 36).
Officers added that they had charged 25 other people with related crimes. Police say the ring was active from August 2023 to April this year.
A police spokesperson added that the ring sold the narcotics online to crypto-paying buyers. The group reportedly made use of Telegram as a communications tool.
Recent reports have claimed that Korean-language Telegram channels have become a “department store” for drug buyers and dealers.
Chungbuk Police Agency said its criminal task force’s drug crime investigation unit carried out the raids.
A police spokesperson explained that the suspected masterminds hid the drugs they received in a “hole in a mountainside.”
When police investigated this hiding place, they found almost six liters of synthetic marijuana solution.
This haul alone is “worth over $1 million” on the domestic market, officers told reporters.
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