Police have nabbed 93 people for online drug dealing in a two-month crackdown between March 11 and May 13, conducted jointly by the National Police Agency and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.

Of them, 58 are charged with possessing and using drugs, 18 with advertising drug dealings, and 17 with distributing drugs.

According to the police, 26 percent of online drug dealing cases were scams selling fake products. The narcotics law also punishes selling and buying items disguised as drugs.

The police said online drug dealers are typically based overseas, working with teams in South Korea who handle shipping and cash withdrawal.

A Drug Safety Ministry official said majority of the online drug deals have moved from websites to social media. A total of 198,379 drug-dealing advertisement posts were removed from social media platforms and 755 accounts blocked.

GHB drugs were most common, comprising 49 percent of the total posts, followed by methamphetamine (29 percent), zolpidem (11 percent) and marijuana (10 percent), the ministry added.

By Kim Arin (arin@heraldcorp.com)