The police in South Korea on Wednesday accused 17 American troopers and 5 different folks of distributing or utilizing artificial marijuana that had been introduced into the nation via the U.S. navy’s postal service.
The police stated they’d not arrested any of the troopers, however that they’d requested prosecutors to file fees in opposition to all 22 folks. A Philippine nationwide and a South Korean nationwide had been beneath arrest, stated the police within the metropolis of Pyeongtaek. Artificial marijuana is an unlawful substance in South Korea.
Cha Min-seok, a senior detective, stated the drug investigation was one of many largest lately involving American troopers. A lot of the distribution of the drug had taken place on U.S. bases, via troopers speaking on Snapchat, Detective Cha stated. Two of the civilians had been a soldier’s partner and one other soldier’s fiancée, he stated.
In South Korea, after the police end a prison investigation, prosecutors evaluation it, typically conducting their very own probe, earlier than deciding whether or not to carry indictments.
The US Forces Korea, which oversees the roughly 28,500 American troops stationed within the nation, had no quick remark. The police stated its four-month investigation had begun with a tip from the U.S. Military’s prison investigation division.
Unlawful drug use is far much less frequent in South Korea than in the US, however the authorities says it’s on the upswing, particularly amongst youthful folks, and it has been promising to crack down on it extra vigorously. Even earlier than this incident, the South Korean authorities had lengthy seen the U.S. navy bases scattered across the nation as potential sources of drug trafficking.
The police in Pyeongtaek, the place the U.S. Military base Camp Humphreys is positioned, stated a 24-year-old U.S. soldier there had obtained about 12 ounces of artificial marijuana via the navy postal service. The substance was smuggled in disguised as e-cigarette liquid and combined with vaping liquid, the police stated.
Artificial marijuana is a time period for quite a lot of substances that mimic THC, the primary psychoactive ingredient of marijuana. Among the substances are banned within the U.S., according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Artificial marijuana is usually bought in the US beneath the names Spice and K2.
The police, as is customary in South Korea, didn’t launch the names of any of the 22 suspects. They stated seven of them, together with 5 troopers, had been concerned within the sale of the drug, 12 had been customers and three acted as go-betweens.
The police stated they seized about 2.7 ounces of the drug, and $12,850 in suspected proceeds from its sale, throughout their investigation, which concerned executing a number of search warrants on U.S. bases in Pyeongtaek and the town of Dongducheon.
By South Korean regulation, these convicted of exporting or importing marijuana or possessing it for such functions can face from 5 years to life in jail. Those that promote or purchase marijuana face a minimal of 1 12 months in jail. Those that use it may be sentenced to as much as 5 years in jail or fined as much as $37,600.
The police’s announcement was one other embarrassment for United States Forces Korea, two months after Pvt. Travis T. King, an American soldier who had served jail time for assault fees in South Korea, crossed the border into North Korea.
