City Bus Driver Who Fell Asleep at the Wheel While 'Drunk' Bought Meth via 'Drop-Off'... Sentenced to 2 Years and 6 Months

Methamphetamine inhalation device found during drunk-driving enforcement
"I only used it on my days off"... Caught driving within seven hours of using methamphetamine

A Chinese national in his 40s who drove a city bus carrying numerous passengers while under the influence of methamphetamine has been sentenced to prison.

A city bus is parked. File photo unrelated to the article. The Asia Business Daily database.

According to legal sources on October 14, Judge Jung Jinwoo of the Suwon District Court’s Ansan Branch, Criminal Division 2, sentenced A, who was indicted on charges of violating the Narcotics Control Act and the Road Traffic Act (drug-impaired and drunk driving), to two years and six months in prison and a fine of 700,000 won. The judge also ordered him to complete 40 hours of a drug addiction rehabilitation program.

A was indicted while in custody on charges including using methamphetamine 13 times from late May to mid-July 2026, when he worked as a city bus driver for a transportation company in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province.

A’s crimes came to light during a late-night drunk-driving crackdown. At around 3:50 a.m. on July 23, 2026, he drove about 13 square kilometers from Siheung to near his home in Ansan with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.102%. He stopped his vehicle in the middle of the road, fell asleep, and was arrested by police. During a subsequent search of the vehicle, officers found a methamphetamine inhalation device known as a “Huri Base,” leading to an additional charge of drug use.

The investigation found that A had bought methamphetamine through social media using the so-called “drop-off” method and used it in a car near his residence.

A claimed that he “only used drugs on days off, so it did not affect my bus-driving.” Police focused on the fact that the effects of inhaled methamphetamine can last about 12 hours. They compared the timing of his drug use with his work logs and found that he had driven a city bus less than seven hours after using the drug.

The court ruled, “The defendant’s guilt is serious, as it has been established that he drove a city bus while under the influence of methamphetamine.” It added, “In determining the sentence, we took into account that the defendant admitted to the crimes and has no prior criminal record in Korea resulting in a sentence more severe than a fine.”

Meanwhile, a police official said that during the investigation, “There have been cases of drug-impaired driving involving private cars or taxis, but this was an extremely unusual and serious case, as we had never seen drug-impaired driving involving a city bus.”

Experts likewise agree that drug use by public transportation workers responsible for the safety of the general public can impair their ability to respond to unexpected situations and lead to major disasters. They say institutional measures, such as introducing random, unannounced tests in addition to regular testing, are urgently needed.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.