South Korean police arrested over 5,200 drug suspects in the first half of the year and will strengthen crackdowns on online and foreign-related drug crimes in the second half.

TechFlow News, August 2, according to Yonhap News Agency, data released by the National Investigation Bureau of the Korean National Police Agency shows that during the concentrated crackdown operation in the first half of this year (March to June), a total of 5,203 drug suspects were caught and 1,039 were detained, representing a year-on-year increase of 1.8% and 7.8% respectively. Among them, there were 2,178 suspects involved in online drug transactions, accounting for 41.9% of the total number of suspects caught, an increase of 300 people compared to the same period last year; 848 foreign nationals involved in drug-related activities, an increase of 114 people year-on-year, with supply-related crimes accounting for up to 47.2%. During this period, the police also successfully extradited Filipino drug lord Park Wang-ryeol and recovered criminal proceeds of 3.84 billion Korean won. In the second half of the year (August to December), the police will focus on strengthening crackdowns on drug sales channels on social platforms such as Telegram, and establish a specialized virtual asset tracking team of 41 people, while cooperating with international law enforcement agencies to strengthen efforts against drug crimes involving foreign nationals.