Singer BoA (Photo Credit=SM Entertainment)-Singer BoA was investigated by the prosecution for carrying psychotropic drugs such as zolpidem, and the agency explained that it was caused by an employee’s mistake at an overseas branch who had no knowledge of trade and customs clearance.
SM Entertainment made an official position on the 17th, saying, “It is true that an employee of an overseas branch delivered medicines by mail without formal import customs clearance procedures, but it was not illegally imported, but a mistake due to ignorance.”
According to SM, BoA recently received a medical examination and took a sleeping pill prescribed at the recommendation of a doctor under the finding that he needed enough sleep due to a decrease in growth hormone, but the side effects were severe, and the related situation was discussed with an employee of the overseas branch.
SM explained that this employee lived with BoA during her activities in Japan, and remembered that Boa had no side effects from the drugs prescribed in Japan for sleep disorders, and was confirmed at a local hospital and received the drugs through normal procedures. However, it was delivered to Korea with an ingredient list attached without realizing that even these drugs that were normally prescribed overseas could be a problem in Korea.
SM Entertainment said, “After receiving a recent contact from an investigative agency, an employee who became aware of his or her mistake was actively cooperated with the investigative agency to investigate this matter, and promised not to make such a mistake again. In addition, the investigation process He said it was a drug delivered to BoA in the first place, and sincerely clarified the facts and supporting data.
Earlier this evening, SBS ‘8 News’ said, “The Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office summoned Hallyu star A as a suspect yesterday. Mr. A is under suspicion of stealing multiple psychotropic drugs such as zolpidem from abroad into Korea.” Reported.
‘8 News’ said, “As a result of the prosecution’s investigation, it was revealed that A was caught during the customs screening stage while trying to bring psychotropic drugs such as zolpidem in Japan through an employee of his agency’s Japanese branch office and then bring it into Korea under the name of a domestic employee. It is known that drugs classified as’C’ by law are also included because there is more concern about abuse than zolpidem.
The following is the full text of SM Entertainment’s official position.
Hello, this is SM Entertainment.
We would like to express our position on the content related to the artist BoA reported today.
This incident was caused by the mistake of an employee of our overseas branch who did not have knowledge of trade and customs clearance. First of all, we would like to say that we sincerely apologize for causing concern to fans as well as many people.
It was true that an employee of an overseas branch delivered the medicine by mail without formal import customs clearance procedures, but it was a mistake due to ignorance, not illegally trying to bring it in. In this regard, I would like to explain in detail.
As a result of a recent medical examination, BoA received a doctor’s opinion that he needed enough sleep due to a decrease in growth hormone, so he took a sleeping pill prescribed at the doctor’s recommendation. However, side effects such as dizziness and digestive problems such as vomiting were severe, and we talked with the staff about this adverse situation.
As a result, the employees who had lived together in Japan were worried about BoA’s health. I remembered that, and because of COVID-19 (Corona 19), it was possible to pick up a representative, so I was confirmed at a local hospital and I followed the normal procedure to receive the medication.
The employee has confirmed at the local post office that it is possible to send drugs from Japan to Korea by attaching documents such as the ingredient list, but without realizing that even drugs normally prescribed overseas may be problematic in Korea I am shipping medicine to Korea by attaching
Since we did not know about the practices and procedures of customs clearance and trade, we were unaware of the fact that in order to handle and import medicines, we need to obtain permission from government agencies, and that even those who are licensed must obtain prior notification and permission to import. Without even knowing the problem, they made a mistake in sending the drug to the local post office only when they were informed that the drug could be shipped overseas if an ingredient tag was attached.
The employee, who became aware of his mistake after being contacted by an investigative agency recently, actively cooperated with the investigative agency to investigate this matter, and promised not to make such a mistake again.
In addition, in the course of the investigation, we first told that it is a medicine delivered to BoA, and sincerely clarified the facts and supporting data.
To prevent this from happening again, we plan to strengthen training in all areas of our staff. Also, I am sorry for the inconvenience this has caused many people.
Once again, we sincerely apologize for causing concern.
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