Foreign basketball players suspected of smoking marijuana

SUWON, South Korea, Feb. 11 (Yonhap) -- Three foreign players in South Korea's
professional basketball league are under investigation for allegedly smoking
marijuana, prosecutors said Wednesday, one of them already having left the
country after admitting guilt.
The Suwon District Prosecutor's Office said the three have been under
investigation since last month when they reportedly used the drug at a Seoul
hotel.
Twenty six-year-old Deangelo Collins, a 203cm-tall American contracted with SK
Knights until his retirement late last month following a knee injury, admitted to
smoking marijuana and left South Korea.
The two other players under probe deny the allegations, investigators said. The
drug test came out positive for one of them but inconclusive for the other.
Suspensions or any other punitive measures are likely to affect the league whose
playoff season begins on March 27.
"We will indict the two suspects by next week on charges of breaching the
anti-drug law, and decide whether to indict the other player whose test came out
inconclusive after an additional probe," a prosecution official said.
The Korean Basketball League (KBL) said it will decide on its actions after the
court makes its ruling.
The KBL introduced foreign players in 1997 in order to boost the league. All of
the 10 teams have since hired two foreign players each, the maximum allowed.
Under South Korea's laws, marijuana users can be sentenced to a maximum of five
years in jail or fined up to 50 million won (US$36,000).
brk@yna.co.kr
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