Crime crackdown: 800 foreigners booked in 100 days

Police arrested 800 foreigners from July to October who were involved in 348 crimes. / Korea Times file

By Lee Jin-a

Police booked more than 800 foreigners for allegedly committing crimes during a special 100-day crackdown from July 4.

The National Police Agency said Tuesday 803 foreigners involved in 348 cases were booked and 136 were arrested in the period.

By crime type, violent crime (67 percent) led the way, followed by narcotics (24 percent), sexual violence (5 percent) and gambling (4 percent).

For violent crime, 189 cases (80 percent) occurred among foreigners and 83 percent among compatriots. Police said most criminals who assaulted people were drunk.

Most of the drugs were smuggled into Korea via airplane luggage or international shipping packages from China and Thailand. By type, 62 percent of the reported drugs were methamphetamine and 30 percent yaba. They were mainly sold via social network services in the country.

For gambling cases, most offenders were caught in private homes. Police said the stakes were usually not high and about 1.8 million won ($1,600) on average was confiscated in each case. Police said they will continue clamping down on these crimes because they can often lead to offences such as loan-sharking.

Meanwhile, police helped 15 illegal immigrants who were victims of assault or molestation to report their injuries without being deported.

According to a policy introduced in March 2013, police have exempted illegal immigrants that are victims of crime from being reported to immigration authorities when they report their cases to police.