Key Takeaways:

- Digital Transformation: Illegal drug trafficking has evolved from physical, face-to-face transactions to highly anonymous, borderless operations centered on digital platforms like social media, messenger apps, and the dark web.

- Organized Crime Expansion: Criminal organizations have migrated their illicit enterprises online, using these platforms to diversify profits, lower risks, and operate globally, making enforcement significantly more difficult.

- Global Security Crisis: The digital shift has globalized the drug trade, transforming it from a domestic crime issue into a major international security threat that funds transnational crime, destabilizes nations, and erodes law enforcement capabilities.

The Evolution of Illegal Drug Trafficking

In the 1970s, South Korean society saw an influx of illegal drugs, including opiates, which led to a rise in the number of addicts. During this period, distribution routes typically involved inflow from abroad or simple domestic manufacturing, while transactions were predominantly conducted through face-to-face, person-to-person contact.

Beginning in the 1980s, methamphetamine began to establish itself as the mainstay of the drug market. This was partly because Korean-produced methamphetamine, blocked from export to Japan, flooded back into the domestic market. Another factor was the systematic expansion of illegal drug trafficking and distribution, centered in and fueled by the entertainment districts of large cities. In the mid-to-late 1990s, with the ramping up of exchanges with China, methamphetamine from China and North Korea entered the South Korean market. During this period, transactions expanded beyond cash to include smuggling via consignment (using porters, freight trucks, and buses), facilitated by the use of bank accounts with fraudulent names and credentials.

Since the 2010s, the illegal drug distribution structure has undergone a rapid transformation, evolving around digital platforms such as social network services (SNS), messenger apps, and the dark web. Alongside existing drugs like methamphetamine and cannabis, new types of synthetic narcotics have emerged, making detection and enforcement increasingly difficult. In the digital society, illegal drug trafficking—much like legitimate and other illicit enterprises—has moved beyond physical spaces. It is now centered on online digital platforms, which enhance anonymity through non-face-to-face interactions and allow operations to transcend national borders.

Illegal drug sale posts can be easily found on X (formerly 'Twitter') (2025.11.6.).

The Evolution of Organized Crime's Illicit Enterprises

Criminal activities traditionally run by violent organizations in physical spaces—operated through violence, extortion, and bribery—have migrated to cyberspace. These activities, including illegal drug trafficking, operating illegal gambling dens, illicit lending, and sex trade operations, now utilize digital platforms such as websites, SNS, messenger apps, and the dark web.

This expansion of criminal enterprises via digital platforms has allowed organizations to diversify their illegal profit structures. They can now operate with relatively few personnel, lower their physical risks (such as evading crackdowns), and establish structures capable of mobilizing large-scale capital. Criminal organizations leverage digital platforms to reduce the time and space constraints of the illegal drug trade, making it easier to connect multiple countries and regions to form supply and distribution networks.

Conversely, enforcement has become more difficult due to the anonymity, international nature, and decentralized character of drug trafficking on these platforms. Authorities have had a hard time keeping up with the rapid evolution of these platforms and the strategies of the criminal enterprises taking advantage of them. With online payments occurring on these platforms, the use of encrypted messengers, anonymization technologies, and cryptocurrencies in illegal drug transactions has made technical tracing even more complex. Europol, in its 2025 report The changing DNA of serious and organized crime, noted that "serious and organized crime is evolving rapidly using digital platforms." The evolution of illicit enterprises through digital platforms is breaking down national borders, moving beyond traditional operational territories and methods of contacting victims.

The Proliferation of the International Security Crisis Due to Illegal Drug Trafficking

The expansion of serious organized crime via digital platforms is not merely contributing to increasing numbers of victims; it is transforming into a crisis affecting public order, social safety nets, and international security. In particular, as the illegal drug trade shifts to digital platforms, its proliferation has accelerated. Distribution networks have globalized, making it difficult for any single nation to crack down on drug-related activities, and thereby posing a threat to international security.

First, drug trafficking via digital platforms enables the activities of Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs). The drug trade remains highly profitable compared to other criminal enterprises, and profits from this trade are linked to human trafficking, money laundering, illicit arms dealing, and the financing of terror networks. In this way, the drug trade fuels cross-border crime across multiple domains. Criminal acts that once occurred only within a single country have taken on a multinational character, thereby changing the very nature of international security threats. As the likelihood of the illegal drug trade becoming a financial lifeline for terrorist organizations or criminal syndicates grows, it has transformed from a simple health or crime issue into a significant national security risk.

Furthermore, illegal drug trafficking via digital platforms poses significant risks to the socio-economic stability of nations. The expansion of the illicit drug market through these platforms broadens the accessibility of narcotics and expands the user base, which in turn adversely affects public health and public order in specific nations and regions. For example, when adolescents or vulnerable populations gain easier access to drugs via the internet, the associated social costs rise. Advertisements on social media and contacts through messenger apps increase the likelihood of adolescents encountering illegal drugs, consequently lowering the age of first-time use. On digital platforms, it is difficult for buyers to ascertain a drug's composition or manufacturing process, leading to the circulation and consumption of dangerous substances which may contain unknown or counterfeit components. The resulting drug overdoses cause serious health complications and lead to higher mortality rates, placing an enormous burden on national healthcare systems.

Ultimately, illegal drug trafficking via digital platforms exacerbates the erosion of national sovereignty and law enforcement capabilities. As transactions are conducted using the internet, cryptocurrencies, and anonymous messengers, it has become difficult for any single nation's law enforcement agencies to effectively respond with traditional methods. Powerful TCOs embed corruption within governments and law enforcement agencies. Some nations lack the technical capacity or resources to combat drug trafficking on digital platforms, making them vulnerable. This vulnerability is exploited internationally, increasing the likelihood that global supply chains for illicit substances will use these countries as transit points. Some governments may also pursue military action as a means to stymie illegal drug distribution in foreign territories or adjacent waters, such as the U.S. government's September 2025 airstrike on a boat attempting to smuggle drugs in Venezuelan waters. A military response to drug trafficking can escalate beyond simple law enforcement into an international dispute, potentially leading to armed conflict over sovereignty violations. This can, in turn, trigger crises in international security, affecting alliances and regional relations.

Therefore, illegal drugs distributed across borders via digital platforms can induce or exacerbate community violence, crime, and instability, ultimately becoming a significant factor in the deterioration of social stability and national security. Consequently, national-level responses, which historically focused on blocking the supply of drugs, manufacturing crackdowns, and criminal punishment, must now be elevated to an international security dimension. This requires strengthening international cooperation centered on digital platform surveillance, including the tracking of cryptocurrency flows and the tracking of new psychoactive substances.