Police to Launch Special Crackdown on MZ Gangs Focusing on Lucrative Crimes

As organized crime groups increasingly focus on lucrative crimes such as fraud, gambling, and money laundering, police are launching a special crackdown on organized crime, including the so-called "MZ gangs."

The Korean National Police Agency announced today (August 9) that it will conduct a intensive crackdown on organized and international crime starting tomorrow (August 10) through October 31.

In the area of organized crime, the focus will be on organized fraud, illegal private financing, operating gambling sites, and money laundering.

In particular, as organized crimes with high anonymity and overseas bases increase, the plan is to closely target emerging gangsters who participate in these lucrative crimes.

Inspections will also be strengthened against acts that fuel social anxiety online, such as flaunting proceeds from organized crime.

The police plan to track money laundering crimes linked to organized crime to cut off the flow of criminal proceeds, and crack down on acts of violence by gangsters regardless of whether the offenses are individual or organized.

In the international crime sector, the crackdown will focus on foreign drug crimes and organized illegal activities.

In particular, to block the smuggling of new psychotropic drugs such as ketamine, the police will track distribution channels and strengthen intelligence gathering targeting foreign communities, major workplaces, and entertainment establishments.

For organized crimes involving foreigners, such as group violence, false visas, and proxy exam brokers, the application of criminal organization charges under the Criminal Act will also be actively reviewed.

The police also plan to protect victims of crime who are undocumented foreigners, utilizing exemption systems for reporting obligations under the Immigration Control Act.

This is intended to thoroughly cut off instances where their legal vulnerabilities are exploited for crimes.

The police's decision to launch the second-half crackdown follows the identification of various patterns of organized and international crimes during the first-half crackdown.

Previously, from March 9 to June 30 of this year, an intensive crackdown on organized crime led to the apprehension of 1,185 people, of whom 225 were detained.

In particular, as a result of cracking down centered on "MZ gangs" involved in fraud and money laundering criminal organizations, the number of arrests increased by 9.7% and the number of detentions by 48.3% compared to the previous crackdown.

For international crime, 641 people were apprehended and 133 detained over a period of about four months in the first half.

The police stated, "Going forward, we plan to respond proactively by strengthening continuous crackdowns and intelligence gathering based on cooperation with relevant agencies related to organized and international crime."
 
(Photo provided by Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police Agency, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.