Drug traders who exchanged narcotics for bitcoin (BTC) using darkweb portals have been handed jail time and suspended sentences as South Korean courts following scores of arrests made earlier this month.

Two separate crackdowns – one in the capital Seoul and the second in North Gyeongsang Province – have seen over 200 people arrested for buying or selling drugs such as ketamine, cannabis, and MDMA (ecstasy) using the Telegram messenger app, bitcoin wallets, and darkweb portals that charged users for using their services.