Hip-hop singer caught growing cannabis at home, charged along with 11 others

A well-known hip-hop singer has been indicted after authorities discovered a cannabis cultivation operation at his home, along with a composer and an English-language instructor among a group charged with growing the drug.

The Joint Government Investigation Headquarters for Drug Crimes said Wednesday it had indicted 12 people — six of them in detention — on charges of violating the Narcotics Control Act following a roughly four-month intensive crackdown on cannabis cultivation that began March 4.

The task force, which includes customs officials within its investigative structure, used import clearance records from Seoul Customs as a key investigative lead.

By analyzing those records, investigators pinpointed the typically short, three-to-four-month cultivation windows that growers use to avoid detection, then raided sites before evidence could be destroyed.

Eight of those charged — three of them detained — had been growing cannabis in densely residential areas. They include a freelance music instructor, a hip-hop group member, a composer and an English-language instructor.

The hip-hop group member, identified only as A, is accused of cultivating three cannabis plants at his residence and storing about 155.9 grams of cannabis between May last year and May this year.

A previously appeared on a music competition program.

A foreign English instructor identified as B and one other person grew 29 cannabis plants at their residence, processed the harvest into cannabis gummies and sold about 8 million won ($5,420) worth of the product.

Three others, including a composer in his 40s, are accused of jointly cultivating cannabis over an extended period dating back to 2019 and storing more than 900 grams of the drug.

Those suspects had set up grow tents, LED lighting and automated watering systems inside their residences to cultivate the plants.

From this group, investigators seized about 3 kilograms of cannabis, 545 grams of cannabis gummies and 39 cannabis plants still in cultivation, cutting off further distribution.

A separate group of four suspects in their 40s to 60s — three of them detained — was also caught running a large-scale, organized cannabis operation out of a secluded factory and warehouse.

Using customs import clearance data to track the suspects' movements, the task force raided three cultivation sites between May 11 and May 14 and arrested all members of the group before they could destroy evidence.

"Through cooperation with customs and other relevant agencies, we will prevent cannabis from infiltrating the everyday lives of young people and the general public, and keep South Korea a safe society," a task force official said.