The police said that the unveiling of the man’s indoor farm shows that transactions involving cannabis in Korea turned out to be quite large in scale. (image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jun. 25 (Korea Bizwire) – Korean police have uncovered the largest indoor cultivation of cannabis in Korea.
Namdaemun District Police arrested a man in his thirties for growing 46 cannabis plants in his 109 ㎡ apartment space in Yongin, and confiscated the plants as well as 135 grams of end-products, worth a total of 2 billion won (US$ 1.8 million) on the black market.
It is reported that 46 plants can make end-products that can serve up to 92,000 individuals.
The police said that the unveiling of the man’s indoor farm shows that transactions involving cannabis in Korea turned out to be quite large in scale, in stark contrast to Korea’s reputation as a relatively drug-free country.
While cannabis is difficult to grow indoors due to the pungent smell, the culprit’s neighbors had not complained about any strange smells before the police intervention, as the man took many precautions, including placing the plants in a tent, blocking window frames with styrofoam, and installing odor-killing devices.
He also created a greenhouse environment with LED lights and tents worth 5 million won (US$ 4,500), and had a monthly electricity bill of between 800,000 and 1 million won.
However, he surely had a lot of customers, most of them in their twenties and thirties, who were or are students abroad.
The culprit himself is a New Zealand citizen who immigrated to New Zealand in 2007 and came back to Korea in 2013. He started the illegal cultivation the year he returned.
By J. W. Choi (summerchoi@koreabizwire.com)
