A total of 13 former and active professional baseball players are under investigation in connection with drug charges involving ex-baseball player Oh Jae-won, according to the Seoul police chief, who made the announcement on Tuesday.
Prosecutors previously indicted Oh, a former player for the Doosan Bears, on charges of habitually using methamphetamine and psychotropic medications since 2022, as well as threatening an acquaintance who tried to report his drug use to the police.
Additionally, Oh was charged with illegally obtaining sleeping pills by having acquaintances secure prescriptions on his behalf.
The Doosan Bears club conducted an internal inquiry which revealed that eight of its players had provided their prescribed sleeping pills to Oh. The club reported these findings to the Korea Baseball Organization.
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner Cho Ji-ho disclosed that police have identified five more former and current baseball players potentially implicated in the case.
Including those identified by the Doosan Bears, a total of 13 former and current baseball players have been booked for investigation on suspicion of supplying their prescribed sleeping pills to Oh, the Seoul police reported.
Police will consider whether any of those booked were coerced into delivering the drugs to Oh when making the final decision on legal action, Commissioner Cho added.
