Man in 'Suwon Drug Zombie' Video Arrested Over Flight Risk

[Anchor]

A man in his 30s seen staggering down the street in broad daylight, who became widely known through a video dubbed the "Suwon Drug Zombie," has ultimately been placed under arrest. Despite drugs being discovered at his home and his persistent denials of drug use, the court determined there was a risk of evidence being destroyed.

Reporting by Im Jihyeon.

[Reporter]

A police transport vehicle enters the courthouse.

The individual undergoing a pre-trial detention hearing is a man in his 30s, surnamed A, who appeared in the so-called "Suwon drug zombie" video three months ago.

On June 21, A was captured on camera near a bus stop in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, in a hunched and staggering posture. The footage spread rapidly across social media platforms under titles such as "Suwon Drug Zombie."

After tracking down A, police conducted a preliminary drug test and emergency arrested him after he tested positive for philopon (methamphetamine).

However, contrary to expectations, a subsequent urine test yielded a negative result, leading to A's release after just a day.

Police later secured an arrest warrant after discovering philopon packaged in plastic during a search and seizure at A's residence, alongside positive results for narcotics in hair follicle tests.

A consistently claimed that while he had taken psychotropic medications prescribed by a psychiatrist, he had neither used nor stored philopon.

However, police stated that additional investigation revealed circumstances indicating A had illegally traded medical narcotics through an acquaintance, surnamed B.

Police have also booked B as an accomplice for violating the Narcotics Control Act, and reportedly reiterated the necessity of securing A's custody to the court today (September 9), citing that A had been lying.

The court issued the arrest warrant citing concerns over the destruction of evidence, and police plan to transfer A to the prosecution after conducting further investigations into how he obtained the drugs and the scale of his usage.

(Camera input: Jang Woon-seok | Video editing: Jung Yong-hwa | Design: Hwang Se-yeon)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.