South Korea: Foreigner Arrested for Growing Marijuana in Apartment Complex

Foreigner arrested for selling marijuana
Sold for $110 per gram

A foreign man has been arrested in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, for growing, selling, and smoking marijuana.

On February 2, the Ulsan Maritime Police announced that they had arrested an Uzbekistan man in his thirties on charges of violating the Narcotics Control Act.

He reportedly sold marijuana he grew to a middleman from Central Asia between December 2022 and October of last year.

The marijuana cultivation site was none other than the apartment where he lived with his pregnant wife and one-month-old baby.

He grew marijuana in his apartment and on the balcony, then mixed it with imported tobacco leaves he bought online to manufacture and sell marijuana cigarettes. He learned the cultivation techniques from YouTube videos.

He sold the marijuana he made for $110 per gram.

The man’s apartment was one of the more expensive ones in downtown Gyeongju, and despite being unemployed, he is known to have leased luxury foreign cars.

The amount of money found in the man’s house was tens of thousands of dollars. The police search yielded 121.8 grams of dried marijuana worth $14,800, enough for 1,000 people to smoke at once, along with 200 marijuana cigarettes, 324 marijuana seeds, and marijuana cultivation tools.

The maritime police are continuing their investigation, believing there may be more people involved, such as smugglers of marijuana seeds.

Meanwhile, the maritime police announced that they would intensify their crackdown on illegal cultivation of poppies and marijuana until July 31, as the flowering season for poppies and the harvest season for marijuana approach.

Recently, there has been an increase in cases where marijuana is grown and distributed in rural and island areas or houses in urban areas to evade the police’s attention.

Under current law, anyone caught growing, selling, or using marijuana without qualification for handling narcotics or cultivating permit will be punished with imprisonment for up to five years or a fine of up to $37,100 under the relevant law.