Drug Use by Housewives, Foreigners Rises
By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
Marijuana and other illegal drug use by housewives and foreign nationals is increasing here, while the total number of people caught for drug use is falling.
In 2008, a total of 9,898 people were nabbed for drug-related crimes, marking a 7.1 percent drop from 10,649 a year earlier, according to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, Tuesday.
Among the apprehended last year, housewives accounted for 124, up 55 percent from 80 a year earlier. The number of medical staff also increased by 5.8 percent to 218. Among farmers, more than 80 percent were caught for growing plants used for drugs, such as poppy.
In particular, a growing number of Thai and other foreign residents here have been caught for drug use and trafficking. The number more than tripled to 928 from 298 the previous year.
``We presume the increase is due to Thai workers, as 711 workers from the country were arrested for drug use last year, a 13-fold gain from 2006,'' a prosecutor said.
Trailing Thai people were 63 from the U.S., 19 from Russia, 13 from Canada and 12 from Japan.
Forty-seven kilograms of drugs were seized being smuggled into Korea, most of which were methamphetamine and marijuana. Until 2007, over 95 percent of methamphetamine seized here was smuggled from China, but last year, about half was from China and the rest was from various countries, such as Turkey, South Africa and Malaysia.
``Most drugs were smuggled in from abroad. We'll strengthen joint investigations with overseas customs and law enforcement authorities to root out drug crimes,'' the prosecutor said.
By profession, the jobless accounted for the largest share of 31.6 percent, followed by office workers, those engaged in the manufacturing industry, farmers and day laborers. Among them, more than 700 people were in manufacturing, a 330-percent rise from the 2007's 163.