Samsung heir Lee Jae Yong facing another police probe for alleged illegal drug use

Samsung heir Lee Jae Yong is currently in jail, and yet he has another case coming after it was revealed he is being investigated for drug use too. The former company vice president is allegedly using the banned drug in South Korea, which is propofol.

Lee Jae Yong’s criminal activities that landed him in jail

Lee’s trials over his cases concerning his leadership succession in Samsung are still on-going. He was imprisoned in January after being found guilty of bribery and embezzlement and concealment of funds that were illegally acquired, amounting to KRW8.6 billion or $7.8 million, as per BBC News.

The Samsung heir apparent is now serving his 2 1/2-year prison sentence for bribing former president Park Geun Hye who is also in jail. A bribe was offered to win the government’s favor for a smooth transfer of power at Samsung - from his late father Lee Kun Hee to himself.

Based on the judge’s decision, Lee was found guilty because " he actively provided bribes and implicitly asked the president to use her power to help his smooth succession" as Samsung chief.

"It is very unfortunate that Samsung, the country's top company and proud global innovator, is repeatedly involved in crimes whenever there is a change in political power," part of Lee’s verdict reads.

Facing new legal trouble

While Lee still has a lot of legal cases to deal with, another serious accusation has surfaced. He is being charged for the supposed use of propofol. The authorities launched an investigation as he was said to have taken several illegal shots of the drug.

The Gyeonggi Nambu Police is checking out a claim that the Samsung VP used the anesthetic drug at a plastic surgery clinic in Seoul last year. The authorities stated that since this is an ongoing probe, they cannot reveal any details.

It was learned that Lee’s hair sample was taken by the police last month while he was detained in Seoul. This is for drug-testing, and it is not clear if the result was already released or not.

Yonhap News Agency reported that Samsung denied that Lee illegally took propofol by saying that he only used it for medical purposes. Meanwhile, Propofol is a highly regulated drug in South Korea, and in fact, the country's Food and Drug Safety agency released a policy to prevent abuse and misuse.