SEOUL– Nearly 50 people, including foreign nationals, have been apprehended in recent police crackdowns on a drug trafficking ring based at massage parlors across the country that hired foreigners, police said Monday.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said it has detained 24 members of the drug trafficking ring for selling methamphetamine and other banned substances at massage parlors with foreign employees nationwide from February to last month and 23 other people who bought the drugs from them.
Of the 47 drug trafficking suspects, 33 people, including foreigners, were put under arrest on charges of violating the Narcotics Control Act, the police agency said.
The ring is accused of having systematically distributed drugs across the country through what it calls regional and sales managers, it said, adding a certain number of Thais were involved in drug distribution.
Police said they have seized drugs worth about 1.7 billion won (US$1.44 million) from the ring, including 504 grams of methamphetamine that can be administered to 17,000 people at the same time, 292 tablets of Yaba and 22 tablets of Ecstasy.
“Police are striving to block the inflow of foreign drug trafficking and other criminal organizations into Korea, as well as organized crimes by foreigners residing in Korea,” said a police official, calling for greater public support in cracking down on drug crimes.
Source: Yonhap News Agency