Beyond Entertainment Districts to Residential Areas…Suwon Residents in Their 20s and 30s Exposed to Drugs

A series of drug use incidents and suspicious reports involving people in their 20s and 30s have been occurring in Suwon. As the drug problem, which had centered on entertainment districts such as Suwon Station and Ingye-dong, spreads to general residential areas, there are calls for police investigations to expand beyond mere drug users to focus on the supply chain.

On the 31st, Suwon Yeongdeungpo Police Station booked a woman in her 30s, identified as A, on suspicion of using methamphetamine.

A reported domestic violence at around 1 a.m. that day at her home in Maetan-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, and drug use was discovered when police arrived at the scene. The male was not present at the location.

Police found approximately 40 disposable syringes believed to have been used for drug injection inside the home. A stated that she had used methamphetamine, and simple tests on her urine and residue from the syringes also showed positive for methamphetamine.

Police plan to send samples collected from A and the syringes to the National Institute of Scientific Investigation for detailed forensic analysis and will trace the route of methamphetamine purchase and the distributors.

On the 30th of last month, police responding to a suspected drug use report in Ingye-dong, Paldal-gu, investigated a woman in her 20s, identified as B. B claimed she had taken cold medicine, but both simple tests and detailed forensic analysis by the National Institute of Scientific Investigation confirmed positive for methamphetamine. Police plan to investigate the circumstances of drug use before booking her.

One day earlier, on the 29th of last month, a woman in her 20s, identified as C, exhibited unusual behavior on Rodeo Street near Suwon Station and was booked by police. C tested positive for methamphetamine on a simple field test at the scene and admitted to drug use, but subsequent detailed forensic analysis by the National Institute of Scientific Investigation detected no drug components. Police plan to close the case based on the results of the detailed forensic analysis.

In June, a man in his 30s was filmed behaving erratically near a bus stop in Gwonseon-dong, Gwonseon-gu, raising suspicions of drug use.

The man tested positive for methamphetamine on a simple field test and was emergency arrested, but received a negative result in urine testing by the National Institute of Scientific Investigation and was released. Following detailed hair analysis that detected drugs, he underwent police investigation again on the 20th. Police stated they plan to decide on referral for prosecution and whether to request an arrest warrant based on the results of the investigation at that time.

Experts raise the possibility that those recently arrested or investigated share common exposure routes to drugs.

Professor Lee Soo-jung of the Department of Criminal Psychology at Kyonggi University stated, "Methamphetamine is not an easily obtainable drug and is expensive, making it difficult to access without a network," and noted, "Since there may be common factors in drug exposure, such as meeting strangers through chat applications, police must identify the common drug trafficking routes for these individuals."

전시언 기자 yourside@news-s.kr