A "post-00s" drug lord in South Korea who laundered millions of dollars using Bitcoin has been sentenced to 20 years in prison

According to DL News, a South Korean drug lord born in the 2000s, who used cryptocurrency for money laundering and drug trafficking, was sentenced to 20 years in prison and fined $4.2 million by the Ulsan District Court.

Three of his accomplices received prison terms ranging from 30 months to three years. The court found that the drug lord operated multiple drug sales channels through the Telegram chat application since March 2020, primarily selling drugs smuggled from Vietnam. His gang used international courier services to smuggle drugs and distributed them through "dead drops" (hiding drugs in public places and notifying buyers to collect them). Transaction payments and distribution commissions were completed using cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, while laundering drug money involved approximately $4 million.