“continuous” flow of South Korean Teens are being given jail time as law enforcement continues Crackdown on crypto-powered drug trade,
Kyungnam Shinmun reported that courts in the southern city of Changwon are now “sentencing teenagers and people in their twenties back to back.”
Recent examples, the newspaper explained, included an unnamed 19-year-old who was convicted of purchasing drugs including ecstasy (MDMA) and ketamine in breach of the Narcotics Control Act.
The teenager was sentenced to eight months in jail and two years’ probation.
The juvenile was also ordered to lecture on the negative effects of drugs.
The sentencing judge was quoted as saying:
“Drug offenses have an adverse effect on the sound mind and judgment of an individual. Drug addiction has a very negative effect on society as a whole.”
Another man was given a one-year, four-month prison sentence on April 17, with two years’ probation.
The man, the court heard, made a number of drug purchases “with the use of Telegram and cryptocurrency wallets”.
Court heard that drug traffickers had distributed drugs Using the “Dead Drop” Method,
This includes pre-payment in crypto.
The drug dealer then leaves the drug “delivery” near the intended recipient by hiding it in a public place, such as an unused drain pipe or crack in a public building.
The dealer then leaves the scene and contacts the buyer to reveal where the drugs are hidden.
Narcotics prices are generally very high in South Korea compared to other countries in the world.
This is mainly due to the fact that the police have previously been successful in their efforts to eliminate drug crime in the country.
But the advent of social media, encrypted chat apps and crypto has put a dent in this.
South Korea’s “crypto-driven drug problem”
South Korean drug dealers appear to advertise their services on social media platforms.
cryptonews.com Twitter has seen several Korean-language posts uploaded over the past 24 hours by individuals claiming to be drug dealers.
It appears to be directing most prospective customers to the Telegram handle.
Some even advertised so-called “party rooms” – online chat rooms frequented by drug dealers and would-be customers.
Some wrote openly about “nationwide delivery” of drugs such as marijuana, LSD, MDMA (ecstasy), methamphetamine (crystal meth), ketamine, and other drugs.
Some refer to cryptocurrencies as a payment method.
Many people showed pictures of bags of drugs with these claims.
Others chose videos of people smoking marijuana and other drugs.
Police earlier this year A 14-year-old girl was arrested in Seoul Suspicion that he had bought crystal meth by paying a dealer in crypto.
The girl was found on the public staircase of the building she lived in.
He allegedly paid $300 worth of crypto for 10 “doses” of the substance.
police retaliated Increasing Your Spending on Crypto Monitoring Tools To locate dealers.
Last month, the National Police Agency said it was Launched a new Cyber Crime Taskforce Which will deal with crypto-related crime.