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A group of individuals associated with a dermatology clinic in Gangnam, Seoul, has been arrested by police for running an illegal propofol administration business through social media. Investigations revealed that they failed to maintain medical records and exclusively accepted cash payments.

Reporter Im Jihyeon has the story.

[Reporter]

In March, police officers entered a building housing a dermatology clinic in Gangnam, Seoul.

Upon opening a small refrigerator, they discovered a large stash of syringes filled with a cloudy white liquid—medical propofol.

The police conducted the search and seizure after uncovering evidence that the clinic had been illegally administering medical propofol since June of last year.

The clinic is currently closed.

It is reported that the illegal administration took place secretly in the clinic's procedure rooms, regardless of the time of day or night.

Police found that the clinic did not keep medical records and only accepted cash payments of at least 300,000 won per session.

Approximately 28 million won in cash was found in the hospital safe, and it is estimated that they earned 200 million won from illegal propofol administration over a nine-month period.

Police also discovered that the clinic manager used a client list obtained from a previous workplace for business purposes and actively recruited people for illegal injections through social media advertisements.

[Park Hyun-chul / Chief of Detective Division, Suwon Jangan Police Station: It was confirmed that they promoted the clinic through an app, and after guiding customers who visited after seeing those posts, they proceeded with the propofol administration.]

Furthermore, the manager and one nurse are already suspects under investigation for illegal propofol use while working at a different dermatology clinic previously.

Six hospital staff members have been arrested so far, and 12 individuals have been identified as having received illegal injections.

The police have detained two people, including the clinic director and the manager, on charges of violating the Narcotics Control Act. They are currently investigating the specific details of the crimes, including whether the propofol used for the illegal injections was leftover stock from legitimate medical procedures.

(Reported by Lee Sang-hak | Video edited by Jung Yong-hwa)