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A group of people who smuggled large amounts of ketamine, known as the so-called 'club drug', into Korea have been put on trial.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Shin Joon-ho) announced today (18th) that it has arrested and indicted seven smuggling gang members, including Mr. A, who served as the chief and fund manager, on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (psychopolitics) and organizing a criminal group. .
Mr. A and others are accused of smuggling about 10 kg of ketamine into Korea on a total of 6 occasions from January of last year to January of this year.
It is an amount that can be administered to about 200,000 people based on 0.05g per dose, and the retail price is equivalent to KRW 2.5 billion.
As a result of the investigation, Mr. A made a plan to purchase ketamine in Thailand, bring it into the country, and sell it, and recruited 'members' to execute it.
He even persuaded men in their 20s to give them 5 to 10 million won per visit and used them as a carrier.
It was investigated that they directly contacted local Thai drug dealers, purchased ketamine in large quantities, and then divided it into 1.4 to 1.8 kg through Incheon International Airport.
The carriers were arrested at the airport arrivals while trying to avoid crackdowns by putting ketamine wrapped in plastic wrap in their underwear and wearing several layers of clothing.
The prosecution also applied charges of organizing and joining a criminal group, seeing that they belonged to a criminal group professionally organized for drug smuggling.
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Ketamine is a type of medical or veterinary anesthetic. It is cheaper and easier to administer than methamphetamine or cocaine, so it is rapidly spreading among young people.
As it is known that it was abused for sex crimes that occurred at Club Burning Sun in the past, it was also nicknamed 'club drug' and 'Burning Sun drug'.
Prosecutors said, "We will deal with the drug smuggling and distribution organization as a criminal group and do our best to restore the Republic of Korea's status as a drug-free country."
(Photo = Courtesy of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, Yonhap News)