Police arrested or booked 2,965 people ― 621 and 2,344, respectively ― for drug use or trafficking during the first five months of this year, a 7.6 percent increase from last year, the National Police Agency said, Wednesday.
Of them, 345 were foreign nationals, a 95 percent rise from a year earlier. People from Thailand accounted for the largest portion at 233 or 67 percent, followed by 42 Russians, 14 Americans and 10 Chinese.
``Many of the Thai people sold or took drugs, such as yaba and methamphetamine, around industrial complexes where migrant employees work. They also grew hemp near the factories and smoked it,'' a police officer said.
No comment in the article about the motivations of the 2,620 Koreans busted, other than to say that some of the drugs came from overseas and were sold online.
7 comments:
Isn't 14 out of 2,965 people 0.5%?
Oops, good catch. Thanks.
I think if you want to use statistics in your title, you need to factor in some other variables too, otherwise it looks like something you haven't thought well about
Yup, it is a regular crime wave. Better tighten up those immigration controls! We surely wouldn't want those .5% running wild in the streets!
What percentage of total population to US Citizens represent? That's the other needed statistic to determine if we are outperforming the natives.
My half-arsed attempt at a google didn't turn up a number.
What?!
They "...grew hemp and smoked it..."
Well that's what I'd call a complete waste of time - hemp is not a drug; it's just a 'normal' plant. It may look the same as marijuana/ cannabis, but it is NOT worth smoking. It IS worth growing for every and any other reason other than using as a drug, but NOT for smoking.
Ahem ... (Not that I'm an expert on illegal drugs or anything; I just like to read a bit BEFORE I go typing and publishing...):
http://naihc.org/hemp_information/content/hemp.mj.html
You're right arvinsign and Charles, that's the point. You can't point to increasing drug use among foreigners without also noting the rising foreigner population. And though that will be used to suggest foreigners are bringing more drugs to Korea, you can't make that claim until you also look at how drug use is increasing among Koreans as well. And, you certainly can't talk about drug use among NSEts without noting how comparatively small that number is.
You can find some stats in the NHRCK report, though not really what we're looking for.
* http://www.scribd.com/doc/15768998/Nhrck-Report-2
* http://briandeutsch.blogspot.com/2009/05/must-read-nhrck-report-discrimination.html
It says that neither immigration nor the MoJ have stats on NSET drug crime, even though the threat is always talked about.
It doesn't have these most recent stats (released yesterday, I guess), but let's look at 2008 through November. It says there were 6 Americans busted for drug crimes, out of the 8,890 here on E-2 visas. I don't know how many Americans there are in Korea, though, including military, teachers on other visas, students, spouses, Korean-Americans, etc. I'll have to google around for some more information later.
ROK Drop had two posts two years ago with more information that show the per capital for drug crimes among Koreans and different nationalities.
* http://rokdrop.com/2007/12/27/comparative-analysis-of-korean-and-foreigner-drug-rates/
* http://rokdrop.com/2008/02/07/2007-foreigner-drug-statistics-issued/
The per capita rate among English teachers, including Americans is higher, though again if you're just going to look at numbers you'd have to break it down some more. You'd have to look at demographics and throw out anyone younger than 22 and also set an upper limit to account for the age group in Korea teaching English.
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