Police Bust 3 Celebrities on Narcotics Charges

Police yesterday applied for arrested warrants for a model and an actress on drug charges, while booking three for further investigation without detention.

The narcotics investigation team of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency is seeking to arrest model Ye Hak-yeong, 26, and actress Yoon Seol-hee, 28, for having smuggled in and used drugs purchased in Japan with money from other actors. Actor Joo Ji-hoon and two others are also suspected to have used the drugs.

Police said Yoon received about 100 million won (74,500 U.S. dollars) from drug buyers from August 2007 to December last year. She is known to have smuggled in narcotics including the hallucinogen Ecstasy and ketamine from Japan more than 14 times.

Ecstasy is usually circulated in tablet form and an overdose can cause convulsions or unconsciousness. Ketamine, an anesthetic for animals, has a stronger hallucinating effect than Ecstasy or LSD and has been regulated as a psychotropic drug since 2006.

Ye faces charges of drug use by providing money for others or smuggling in narcotics for himself at a Seoul club or at home with his friends. Joo, a friend of Ye’s, is suspected to have used drugs twice at Ye’s house around March last year.

Joo reportedly admitted that he used the drugs while drunk.

Police said the investigation began after they learned that certain entertainers were using drugs. Hashish, drug inhalers, Ecstasy pills and ketamine were seized at their homes, and the suspects have admitted to the charges.

“This is the first case in which entertainers funded drug purchases and smuggled them in for themselves,” a police official said. “We’re expanding our probe after learning that about 10 more people, including two or three popular entertainers, received drugs from Yoon.”

Joo rose to stardom in his debut role as Crown Prince Lee Shin in the 2006 drama "Princess Hours (Goong)," and his leading role in the movie “Kitchen,” about the life of a gifted chef. Yoon played supporting roles in two films, including “War of Flowers,” and Ye appeared in several films, dramas and music videos.

On how she felt about the scandal, Yoon simply said, “I did something wrong.”

constant25@donga.com