Digital assets are not only used for trading and funding but it has been aggressively used by criminals to fund illegal activities in different nations.
On February 24, 2025, the customs officers of South Korea arrested a male and a female for receiving payments in crypto for smuggling narcotic substances.
Are smugglers opting for crypto as a more convenient mode of payment?
Over time, the features of decentralized markets have evolved, opening new opportunities for bad actors and crime lords. Several times, it has been reported that stablecoins are used to make payments for organized crime.
With the advancement of blockchain technology, a boom in products launched leveraging the technology, among some changes in the market with their advanced features. At the same time, some others opened the way for criminals, scammers, and fraudsters to trouble the masses either directly or indirectly leveraging cryptocurrencies.
The arrested male and female in South Korea have been charged with the Narcotics Control Act of the nation, and are smuggling narcotics more than 7kg in the territory of SK.
Officials also note that both these detained individuals have also been involved in smuggling nearly 4kg of synthetic marijuana from Vietnam to South Korea.
The criminal leveraging duo of Telegram & Crypto for more gains
Over the past few quarters, it has been constantly reported that usage of Social media has surged among criminals, and in the past few months, Telegram has stood at the top in terms of illicit activities.
Telegram has faced a number of allegations of operating a platform for illicit activities, yet on the other side, Telegram stands tops in terms of good deeds, by creating opportunities for one’s seeking knowledge from social media.
In the narcotics case of SK, both the detained individuals were hired by the drug lord from Telegram; and the official said these masterminds post job vacancies, with a high wage over Telegram to lure more people as the platform has millions of daily activities users.
Also, the platform was used to instruct the duo about how to operate, the South Korean outlet said the customs officer had recovered some telegram chats between the arrested and the drug lord.
The majority of times it has been reported that the ones who got looted from social media and crypto are young individuals as their involvement in new technology is higher than any other generation.
In the last quarter of 2024, it was reported that the total number of crypto users over the globe has reached 600 million, and the younger generation holds a major portion of the overall user count.
