Appeals court acquits man who bought drugs to help police
By Bahk Eun-jiAn appellate court has acquitted a man of buying narcotics for the purpose of collecting evidence to report drug trade to the police.The Seoul High Court said, Friday, it overturned a lower court ruling that had sentenced the Korean Kazakhstani, 40, to two and a half years in prison suspended for three years for violating the Act on the Control of Narcotics.The man was indicted in March 2019 on charges of buying a new type of drug, a synthetic cannabinoid known as “spice,” in October 2018.Korea Times fileThe man, who hardly spoke Korean, reported to the police, through an interpreter, that foreigners were selling and buying drugs near his residence. But the police, through the interpreter, asked him to secure evidence such as photos of criminal activity, saying they could not launch an investigation with the verbal report only.He messaged the interpreter to say he would try to buy drugs as evidence if this would make the police take action.A few hours later, he bought the drug, took a photo of it, sent the photo to the police, and flushed the drug down a toi
Mar 12, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
