SEOUL, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's drug offenders hit a record high this year owing to a surge in youth drug crimes, Yonhap news agency said on Wednesday, citing a special investigation team.

The number of drug offenders caught here for the first 10 months of 2023 reached an all-time high of 22,393, up 47.5 percent compared to 15,182 tallied in the same period of last year.

The special investigation team, composed of the prosecution, the police, the intelligence agency, the customs office, and the defense ministry, was launched in April to cope with the soaring drug crimes.

Of the total drug offenders, 1,174 were in their teens while 6,580 were in their 20s for the January-October period, altogether accounting for 34.6 percent. The combined figure went up 53.8 percent from a year earlier.

The special investigation team was quoted as saying that drug crimes had risen among the teens and those in their 20s amid the growing online transactions through social network services, dark webs and direct purchases from overseas. Enditem

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