Foreign English instructors booked on drug charges

Police booked six foreign English instructors on suspicion of using marijuana, officials said Friday, with some allegedly conducting class while under the influence of the drug, Yonhap News reported.

Among those charged were three teachers from Canada, two from the United States and one from New Zealand, all of whom teach English at private institutions or elementary schools in Seoul. Police also arrested a Nigerian man, whose name has been withheld, on suspicion of providing marijuana to the six suspects.

According to police, the drugs were supplied to the suspects by the Nigerian dealer and were imbibed in and around their residences in Itaewon, a neighborhood populated by bars and other late-night establishments. They added that some of the suspects smoked the banned substance before heading to class in the morning.

"The suspects are believed to have routinely used the drug from a young age," a police official said. "We have to tighten visa controls for foreign teachers with medical and criminal records."