String of drug busts shatters Korea's drug-free myth

A string of recent drug cases is eroding Korea’s lingering reputation as a drug-free country, highlighting how both Koreans and foreign nationals are being increasingly drawn into narcotics crime. The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police said Monday that it referred 66 foreign nationals to the prosecution between March and October on charges including violating the Narcotics Control Act, with 30 of them being held in custody. Many of the suspects were Southeast Asian students who entered the country on D-2 student visas or D-4 language training visas. Of the seven separate cases, one involved drug manufacturing plans and another smuggling, while five involved distribution, purchase and use. One suspect set up equipment in a studio apartment to make ecstasy pills from powder and other materials smuggled into Korea, but was caught before obtaining them. Six others were arrested in succession after investigators found evidence that they had smuggled large amounts of ecstasy, ketamine and other drugs into Korea through international mail in March. They operated in isolated cells and took order