A Gen Z drug kingpin will serve 20 years behind bars for using crypto as a money laundering and payment tool in a narcotics distribution network worth $4 million.

The kingpin, unnamed for legal reasons, received his sentence at the Ulsan District Court, the South Korean media outlet News1 reported, with a panel of judges also handing him a $4.2 million fine.

Prosecutors told the court the kingpin and his gang smuggled drugs into the country using international courier services and made sales via the Telegram chat app.

“It is difficult for police to crack down on the import of drugs through international parcel delivery,” Presiding Judge Park Jeong-hong said in sentencing.

“This scourge is spreading rapidly, so we need to punish offenders severely. These are highly antisocial crimes. They demand very heavy punishments.”

Observers say Korean-language Telegram channels have become “narcotics department stores” for young South Koreans, who pay for drug deliveries in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Telegram sales channels

The court heard that the unnamed man started selling drugs online in March 2020. He recruited a gang of associates who helped him run multiple Telegram drug sales channels.

The channels sold synthetic marijuana, marijuana, LSD, and methamphetamine, mainly smuggled from Vietnam.

The kingpin used a nationwide network of smaller-scale drug dealers to perform “dead drops,” or leaving bags of drugs hidden in public places and then sending pickup instructions to their buyers.

The gang used crypto as a payment method for buyers and dead-dropping delivery workers alike.

Prosecutors told the court that between March 2022 and May 2023 alone, the gang dropped off almost 12,000 deliveries of over 7,000 kilograms of methamphetamine pills.

Paid in crypto

The gang used crypto to launder its funds and paid its distributors a 10% commission on all successful deliveries.

The court castigated the kingpin, telling him he had created a model that other drug dealers were now following.

“The illegal distribution of drugs has become more sophisticated and active,” said the judge. “Your actions are mass-producing new drug addicts and drug criminals.”

The same court handed out jail sentences of between 30 months and three years to three of the kingpin’s acquaintances.

All were found guilty of drug distribution and money laundering violations.

DL News has seen evidence that scores of Korean-language posters on X and public Telegram channels continue to advertise “nationwide delivery” for drugs like methamphetamine, MDMA, and synthetic marijuana with impunity.

The posters use street argot for these drugs as hashtags.

Tim Alper is a News Correspondent at DL News. Got a tip? Email at tdalper@dlnews.com.