Korean Drugdeals Use Bitcoin as a Payment
Earlier last year a man was arrested for drug dealing in South Korea caused of violations of different kinds of drug management laws. The man had been buying narcotics online from 2020 to April last year on eight different occasions. The man was charged with 10 months of jail time and had to attend a 40-hour-long drug treatment course. This is, of course, nothing strange to hear about but this man did not use regular currency to purchase the drugs but in fact, used Bitcoin (BTC) for every deal.
Not That Uncommon
Webtraded drug and narcotic deals have been more and more common in South Korea and the Bitcoin and Altcoin deals have not really dampened it either. Dealers are writing offers online not just to their own nation but worldwide as well looking for clients. The news site cryptonews.com discovered different kinds of slang words on the apps Telegram and Kakao used by teenagers to write anonymously about their drug use or drug purchases. Some even posted pictures with hands covered in gloves holding plastic bags saying that it´s time to go make some deliveries.
A Rising Question by the Authority
The prime minister of South Korea, Lee Nak-Yeon, raised a concern about the usage of Bitcoin by youths, stating that it´s dangerous to let them handle these currencies especially when they are used to sell and buy drugs. It can lead to serious distortion if left unaddressed, so they called the ministry of justice to look into the issues. The teenager’s way of conversating the deals with one another is through different kinds of social media apps like Kakao and Telegram. The authority has no problem using Kakao to hand over details of users they suspect of dealing online but it´s much more difficult with Telegram since it´s a worldwide platform. And the dealers seem to know this despite the crackdown and authorities getting closer with the investigations. Somehow it has been easier to track down the dealers who are using Bitcoin and crypto in their deals. Police officers are really invested in blockchain analytics software which has given them a big head start on the dealers using BTC.
Paying Off but Still a Problem
The police methods have been paying off quite well. Over 1,495 drug arrests have all been counted for last year and 533 of them had been using BTC as payment. Though a high percentage of those numbers are teenagers, which seems to be a rising problem, more are using BTC currencies which might actually make it easier for the authorities to take care of all the problems.