Police arrest all 19 members of motorcycle gang that removed license plates before late-night rampage in Daejeon

Police have arrested a group that blocked roads and carried out a mass illegal street race through central Daejeon using motorcycles and cars.

The Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency said it apprehended 19 people, including a 20-year-old identified only as A, on charges of obstruction of traffic and other offenses related to the group street racing.

The suspects are accused of gathering on roads in the Seongnam-dong area of Dong-gu at around 12:25 a.m. on May 6 and racing in a group for about 10 minutes.

According to police, the group performed zigzag stunt driving, used cars to block all lanes of traffic and rode motorcycles in circles at intersections, obstructing the flow of vehicles and creating dangerous conditions.

Investigators found that the suspects had removed their motorcycle license plates beforehand to evade police detection.

During questioning, the suspects said they had joined out of curiosity after being invited by acquaintances or seeing posts on social media announcing the planned race.

Police said they plan to refer all 19 suspects to prosecutors without detention in the near future.