Drug offenders apprehended (total)

Definition

Number of drug offenders apprehended in a year (all narcotics, psychotropic drug and cannabis offenders). The total stated in the Supreme Prosecutors' Office press release on its annual Drug Crime White Paper, carried as published (based on statistics from the prosecution and related agencies).

How to read this indicator

Supreme Prosecutors' Office, Narcotics and Organized Crime Department (formerly the Violent Crime Department and the Anti-Corruption and Violent Crime Department), annual Drug Crime White Paper. The press releases say "drug offenders", "drug offenders apprehended" or "number of drug offenders apprehended". They do not say whether the count is by booking or by indictment. This site does not add up the three offence types itself.

Trend

⚠️ The survey population changed between rounds, so year-to-year comparison requires caution. Movement in the line may not reflect real change.

• 2015 p.1 · SPO press release "2015 Drug Crime White Paper published" 2016-08-22 (PDF p.1): "Drug offenders reached a record 11,916, up 19.4% from 2014 (9,984)"
• 2016 p.1 · SPO 2016 White Paper press release 2017-09-04 (PDF p.1): "In 2016 drug offenders reached a record 14,214, up 19.3% from 2015 (11,916)"
• 2017 p.1 · SPO 2017 White Paper press release 2018-08-28 (PDF p.1): "In 2017 drug offenders numbered 14,123, above 14,000 for the second year running"
• 2018 p.1 · SPO 2018 White Paper press release 2019-09-09 (PDF p.1): "In 2018 drug offenders numbered 12,613, down 10.7% from the previous year (14,123)"
• 2019 p.1 · SPO 2019 White Paper press release 2020-05-31 (PDF p.1): "In 2019 drug offenders reached a record 16,044, up 27.2% from the previous year (12,613)"
• 2020 p.1 · SPO 2020 White Paper press release 2021-06-09 (PDF p.1): "In 2020 drug offenders reached a record 18,050, up 12.5% from the previous year (16,044)"
• 2021 p.1 · SPO 2021 White Paper press release 2022-05-06 (PDF p.1): "In 2021 drug offenders numbered 16,153, down 10.5% from the previous year"
• 2022 p.2 · SPO 2022 White Paper press release 2023-07 (PDF p.2): "Drug offenders surged 45.8%, from 12,613 in 2018 to 18,395 in 2022"
• 2023 p.4 · SPO 2023 White Paper press release 2024-06 (PDF p.4): "(All drug offenders) 27,611 in 2023, above 20,000 for the first time" · korea.kr 2024-11-18 "27,611"
• 2024 p.1 · SPO 2024 White Paper press release 2025-06-15 (PDF p.1): "In 2024 drug offenders apprehended numbered 23,022, down 16.6% from the previous year (27,611)"
• 2025 p.1 · SPO 2025 White Paper press release 2026-07-28 (PDF p.1): "In 2025 drug offenders apprehended numbered 23,403, up 1.7% from the previous year (23,022)" · korea.kr 2026-06-02 "23,403"

All observations