Young people lured into drug trafficking

Drug organizations are increasingly recruiting young people in their 20s to work at their lowest levels, typically involving stashing and delivering drugs. These individuals, often referred to as "droppers," are usually young people in need of money. Drug organizations frequently take their identification documents and use the threat of exposing these documents to prevent the droppers from leaving.

The Dong-A Ilbo team conducted a search for the term "dropper" on the social networking platform X on Tuesday. They found numerous promotional posts and addresses for Telegram channels related to this illegal activity. Upon accessing one of these channels, they discovered a post stating: "Dropper job guaranteed 20 million won per month. Only those who can strictly open their identity," along with other similar descriptions.

When the team inquired about becoming a dropper, the channel operators demanded various forms of identification as "collateral." These included a headshot, a copy of the national ID card, and a certificate of family relationship. The operators threatened to disclose this personal information on a Telegram channel that was ominously named the "Identity Engrossing Prison" if the individual later quit. Unfortunately, many young people, unaware of the risks, readily hand over their personal information.

Many young people are enticed into these organizations by false promises of earning tens of millions of won per month. In reality, however, the amount they receive is only 30,000 to 50,000 won per drug delivery. The more illegal the job, the higher the risk, yet the pay remains low, and leaving the organization becomes increasingly difficult. According to the National Police Agency, 2,725 drug dealers were arrested in the first half of this year, a 30.4 percent increase compared to the same period last year.


최원영 기자 o0@donga.com