It is worth noting that US authorities participated in the investigation and raid according to the article.
Wow! 5 years to life. Do not fuck around and find out in Asia.
There was a tiny and insignificant event in neighboring China called "the opium wars". Tends to make Asian governments a bit touchy about drugs.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
South Korean police are investigating 17 US soldiers and five other people who allegedly smuggled or used synthetic marijuana via military mail.
A tip from the US Army's enforcement arm had sparked a four-month investigation by Korean authorities.
It was one of the largest in recent years involving American soldiers, US media reported citing Cha Min-seok, a senior detective in South Korea.
Joint raids by South Korean police and the US Army's Criminal Investigation Division found 77g (2.7oz) of synthetic cannabis, more than 4kg of "mixed liquids" used for vaping and a total of $12,850 (£10,440) in cash at the 22 suspects' homes.
They are accused of smuggling synthetic marijuana - known by the street names K2 and Spice - into the country through the US military's postal service.
In South Korea, those convicted of trafficking marijuana face from five years to life in prison.
The original article contains 384 words, the summary contains 145 words. Saved 62%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
So am I missing something? 2.7oz seems hilariously tiny?
From the full article
'In South Korea, those convicted of trafficking marijuana face from five years to life in prison. Drug possession carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison or a fine of about 50m won ($37,200; £30,300).'
So even possession is punishable. They aren't going to care that it's a small amout, and with the cash they also confiscated they will assume there was more that had already been sold. That is where the trafficking comes in I would guess.
I don't know about Korea but in the US, trafficking doesn't necessarily mean trafficking. It means having more on hand than some bureaucrat decided a normal person would keep for their own personal use.
This is correct, if you have over 28 grams of weed (at least in my state) and plan to use it all for personal use, it doesn't matter. Per the law, it is- prema facia evidence for trafficking.
They are accused of smuggling synthetic marijuana - known by the street names K2 and Spice - into the country through the US military's postal service.
That might be a part of it
2.7 oz is a stupid amount of K2 (synthetic cannabis).
It's already a ton of natural cannabis. If you cup your hands together, that is about one ounce of weed which will keep you fucked up for a while. Now imagine 2.7 times that, and since it's synthetic cannabis it's way stronger.
Edit: To be clear I don't think weed should be illegal, and South Korea has draconic drug laws. I use it myself, which is how I know that 2.7 oz is a lot of weed.
I knew a guy who'd go through half an ounce every day. I thought that was a pretty fucked up amount, but then I've never been a really hard-core stoner, and it was probably Mexican ditch weed.
That dude must've just been constantly high.
He pretty much was.
they call it spice! poetic, i love it.
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