Man in his 30s Gets 3 Years for Drug Brokering as Entrapment Defense Rejected

The Chuncheon District Court sentenced A (32), a man in his 30s indicted on charges of arranging drug deals, to three years in prison and a confiscation payment of 250,000 won. Although A was apprehended through an undercover operation by the police, his claim that investigators induced the crime, dubbed 'entrapment,' was not recognized by the court.

A was indicted on charges of arranging the sale of the psychotropic substances PCL (phencyclidine analog) and ketamine, and for possessing ketamine, in August of last year. According to the indictment, A prepared 3 million won in payment to purchase 6g of PCL analog and ketamine from an acquaintance, B, for a drug sale. A then brokered the drug deal inside a vehicle with B, handing over the drugs and receiving approximately 1g of ketamine. Informant B had been arrested for a narcotics-related offense in June of last year and was released after agreeing to cooperate with the investigation.

During the trial, A argued that the investigative authorities' actions using B constituted 'entrapment' by inducing criminal intent, and therefore the evidence was inadmissible. The court ruled that B had not first proposed or suggested a drug deal to A. It was explained that A first inquired about the possibility of purchasing drugs, leading B to report the undercover deal to the police. The police did not provide specific instructions to B regarding the undercover buyer or method, and continuously informed B that 'lying or soliciting a sale first is against the law.'

The court emphasized the necessity of strict punishment, considering the high recidivism risk and the negative social impact of drug offenses. Taking into account that A committed the offense while on probation for a similar crime, the court sentenced him to three years in prison and ordered a confiscation payment of 250,000 won.