Men accused of growing marijuana in underground bunker using government grants
Marijuana plants grow inside an underground bunker. Courtesy of pan-government joint investigation unit on drug crimes
Fake farmers found to have misused 1 billion won in government aid
Two men have been accused of pocketing roughly 1 billion won ($670,241) in state subsidies to build an underground marijuana-growing operation beneath a large greenhouse.
An interagency narcotics task force announced Tuesday that prosecutors filed additional fraud charges against the two men in their 30s, one of whom remains in custody. They were already on trial for alleged drug law violations.
The suspects face new allegations of exploiting a government-led young farmers' aid program to secure the funds to set up their operation. They were caught earlier this year cultivating 134 marijuana plants in the underground bunker.
Prosecutors say the men falsified their addresses and submitted false farming plans to qualify for the program, with no actual intention of farming.
Posing as farmers, they allegedly obtained 950 million won in low-interest agricultural loans from the state-backed agricultural bank NongHyup between July and Oct. 2023. They also received 43.64 million won in farming grants between 2024 and 2026, alongside subsidized electricity.
Investigators said the men used the funds to build a greenhouse and underground bunker, running a marijuana-growing operation below while disguising the greenhouse as a basil farm. Prosecutors added the alleged cultivation of 22 more marijuana plants to the existing case, which the men allegedly began growing in September 2024.
"This is a crime that exploited a program that selects recipients based on plans submitted even before they actually start farming, and lacks sufficient oversight," an official from the task force said.
Marijuana plants inside a greenhouse / Courtesy of pan-government joint investigation unit on drug crimes
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.