International Drug Rings Allegedly Use the Country as Trafficking Base


By Moon Gwang-lip
Staff Reporter


South Korea has been recognized as a ``drug-free’’ nation in the international community, thanks to its efforts to keep illegal substances out of the country since 1989.


Different types of drugs are on display at the headquarters of the Seoul Metropolitan Policy Agency in central Seoul on Dec. 10. The anti-narcotics team of the agency seized the drugs, which were smuggled into the country by mail. / Yonhap


Narcotics experts, however, have expressed concern that the nation might be deprived of the honor before long.

According to statistics, only 16 out of every 100,000 South Koreans were arrested on drug-related charges last year, far lower than 572 out of every 100,000 Americans in 2000. Comparable figures stood at 411 in Australia, and 353 in Thailand in 2001 and 220 in Britain in 1998.

But the number of those arrested for drug-related violations increased from 6,947 in 1997 to 8,350 in 1998 and 10,589 in 1999, according to the Supreme Public Prosecutors’ Office. The number stood at 10,304 in 2000, 10,102 in 2001 and 10,673 in 2002.

Although the number declined to 7,546 in 2003 and 6,529 in the first 10 months of this year, experts say the country should remain alert. They claimed that the drop was simply due to the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which prompted drug dealers across Asia to reduce their operations during the period, the report said.

Even experts say the number of those arrested stands at less than 5 percent of the real number of drug users in Korea.

Also, the Korean government has been confiscating more drugs annually, which are divided into three categories here _ narcotics such as opium, cocaine and heroin; psychotropic substances, including LSD and methamphetamine or philopon; and marijuana.

The quantity of confiscated drugs, which stood at around 82 kilograms a year in the 1996-2000 period, skyrocketed to 462kg in 2001, 274kg in 2002 and 170kg in 2003.

A drug expert attributes it to lack of police enforcement as well as a budget shortage.

``The number of police in drug enforcement, currently around 10,000 and the assigned budget, 3.3 billion won this year, should at least be doubled to cope with drug crimes,’’ Chung Dae-pyo, prosecutor in charge of drug-related crimes at the Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office, said during a presentation in a conference held in Seoul on Dec. 2.

The problem is growing as an increasing amount of drugs is expected to be smuggled into Korea from neighboring countries like China, he said.

``China produces lots of methamphetamine and people try to sell it here because it is a tenth of the price of the drug in Korea. In addition, some organized criminal rings in Korea are joining smuggling led by international drug rings.’’

The Korea Customs Service (KCS) said yesterday some international drug rings have used Korea as middle access point for transporting drugs to the United States, Europe and Japan, with pledge to implement full-ranged crackdown on drug smuggling.

``Korea is known as drug-free country, so major drug-consuming countries have focused its investigation on people or luggage from drug-exporting countries, not on those from Korea, however, this conversely has led international drug rings to eagerly try to pass through this country,’’ said Kim Byung-doo, director of narcotics investigation division.

According to the KCS, 72 percent of 43 kilograms of confiscated drug in Korea during the first 11 months this year was heading from foreign to foreign countries.

In September, the KCS exposed 11 kilograms of hashish in the Incheon international airport, heading for Japan from India and in November, it exposed 48 grams of methamphetamine, heading for Guam hidden in cargo from the Philippines.

If drug supply increases sharply from those reasons, prices will plunge, increasing the number of Koreans using drugs, prosecutor Chung warned.

``The increasing number of drug addicts will bring more drugs into the nation in a vicious circle. Eventually, in the worst scenario, it could make drugs much more available in our society,’’ he added.

Meanwhile, another expert discussed the ineffective drug-offense management by the government.

``The drug issue is getting more serious as more people fall into the trap, but what is worse is that 70.6 percent of drug criminals in Korea repeat the offense,’’ Lee Kun-ho, law professor at Hallym University, said.

``This may show how difficult it is to treat and rehabilitate drug abusers. But it also indicates the government’s failure to make drug abusers quit the habit, which eventually makes the matter more serious in Korea,’’ the professor said.

Lee, who addressed the strategies used by different nations in dealing with drug-related offenses at the conference, called on the government to improve treatment for drug violators in order to handle the issue more effectively.

``For instance, first offenders convicted for taking soft drugs such as marijuana are treated in the same way and in the same prison as offenders with previous drug records for hard drugs like cocaine and heroin,’’ Lee said. ``This only leads first offenders to commit more crimes by placing them in a bad environment.’’

Lee believes that diversifying treatment programs for drug users could help to resolve the drug problem in Korea, as a 2001 report indicated that drug users accounted for 70.9 percent of cases of drug-related crimes, which includes dealers and smugglers.

``By providing various and suitable treatment programs for all people convicted of taking drugs, the Korean government can prevent many drug-users from repeat offenses.’’

Another drug expert agrees with Lee.

``The government’s drug policy has focused on the punishment of drug users, not on treatment or rehabilitation,’’ Chun Kyung-soo, president of the Drug-related Criminology Institute of Korea, said.

He claimed that the punishment-oriented policy will only harm drug abusers who are already suffering the after-effects of drug use.

``Drug abusers cannot improve their condition without outside help through treatment and rehabilitation, so the government should shift its focus from punishment to prevention and treatment,’’ he said.

joseph@koreatimes.co.kr