TV Personality Robert Holley Was Long-Term Meth User

Robert Holley is taken to a remand prison in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province on Tuesday. /Yonhap

The colorful TV personality Robert Holley, also known by his Korean name Ha Il, had been investigated by police on drug abuse charges since 2017 until he was booked on Monday.

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During previous investigations, Holley shaved his head and depilated other parts of his body to avoid having to provide hair samples for drug tests. But this time he confessed to using crystal meth after tests came back positive.

Police in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province on Tuesday sought an arrest warrant for the 60-year-old California native, who became a naturalized Korean in 1997.

According to police, Holley was investigated for drug abuse in July 2017 and March 2018 following a confession by another suspect who claimed to have taken meth with him at his home. But police had failed to find corroborating evidence because he appeared for questioning with a shaved head and waxed body.

But the dragnet closed in when police tracked his drug purchases through social media and ATM money transfers to a dealer captured on a CCTV camera.

Police searched Holley's home and found a syringe behind the toilet in his bathroom.

Holley told police he saw an ad for the drugs on the Internet and bought them with cash but only used them "once" in his home.

On his way to questioning by police he told reporters he is "sorry" and feels "heavy-hearted" for what happened.