Targeting Halloween Night, "Twice as Usual"... Club Drugs Detected Across Areas

[Anchor]

To investigate the actual use of narcotics, the government has been collecting and analyzing domestic sewage since 2020. During the Halloween period last year in particular, various types of club drugs were detected in sewage from nightlife districts in Seoul.

Reporter Han Sung-hee has the details.

[Reporter]

Police anti-narcotics officers raid a club in Seoul.

After searching various spots, they discover a medicine bottle suspected of containing drugs.

When a Korea Customs Service official cuts into the leg of a baby crib, white powder spills out.

It is ketamine, widely known as a representative "club drug."

Amid growing concerns over the spread of club drugs, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety collected and analyzed sewage samples from 10 locations near nightlife districts in Seoul during the Halloween period last year.

As a result, ingredients for eight types of so-called "club drugs," including cocaine, ecstasy, and ketamine, were detected.

This is twice the number of types usually identified on regular weekends.

This marks the first time the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has targeted the Halloween period to investigate drug components near nightlife areas.

When the ministry significantly expanded the analyzed narcotics from a maximum of 22 types to 243 types last year, the number of narcotics identified in sewage nationwide reached 31 types, more than four times the 7 types from the previous year.

[Chae Gyu-han / Director-General for Narcotic Safety, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety: Looking at the types of narcotics, synthetic cannabinoids, which produce effects similar to marijuana—meaning synthetic cannabis—were detected the most at 21 types.]

Synthetic cannabis is a chemical substance created to produce effects similar to marijuana, confirming that the global trend of increasing cheap synthetic drugs is also appearing in South Korea.

[Lee Bum-jin / Head of the Korea Anti-Drug Research Institute (Professor, Ajou University College of Pharmacy): As the synthesis process becomes simpler and the prices of materials even drop, there is a prominent downward trend in the prices of psychotropic drugs. Naturally, when prices are low, the possibility of exposure to the general public and...]

The number of drug offenders nationwide has continued to rise, reaching 23,000 last year.

(Video Editing: Ahn Yeo-jin)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.