‘Anti-Aging Effect?’ 175 Caught Smuggling Deer Placenta Capsules... Purchase and Consumption Advised Against

Diagram of the smuggling route and seizure process of deer placenta stem cell capsules. Provided by the Korea Customs Service.

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] One hundred seventy-five people attempting to smuggle deer placenta stem cell capsule products into the country were caught by customs.

The Korea Customs Service announced on the 14th that it had apprehended these smugglers for violating the Customs Act, imposed fines (notification disposition), and confiscated the related goods.

According to the Korea Customs Service, they are suspected of attempting to smuggle 640,000 deer placenta capsules worth approximately 3.3 billion KRW from July to December last year.

The seized deer placenta capsules are products manufactured and promoted by company R, headquartered in Singapore, using stem cells extracted from New Zealand deer placenta as the main ingredient, appealing to consumers with unverified anti-aging effects.

However, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, deer placenta stem cells are not listed in the "Standards and Specifications for Food" and have not yet been proven safe, so they cannot be used as food ingredients.

For the same reason, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has requested the Korea Customs Service and the Korea Communications Standards Commission to block the customs clearance and sales sites of capsule products using deer placenta stem cells as ingredients. While using deer placenta itself as a food ingredient is possible, it is not allowed to isolate or filter specific components such as stem cells from deer placenta for use.

Accordingly, the Korea Customs Service has withheld customs clearance for these products and made it impossible to import deer placenta capsules into the country even if they are shipped from overseas.

Nevertheless, some individuals directly purchased the products in places like Singapore and attempted to smuggle them in by hiding the deer placenta capsules in carry-on bags without declaring them to customs, leading to their apprehension.

In particular, it is reported that they prepared items to evade customs inspections, created and shared behavioral guidelines such as travel routes, and even prepared false price documents lower than the actual purchase price in advance to pay less in fines if caught and fined, showing meticulous planning.

A Korea Customs Service official said, "Some domestic members of company R falsely and exaggeratedly promote deer placenta capsules as effective for treating diseases such as cancer, hypertension, and diabetes. However, these products have not been confirmed safe and are prohibited from importation into the country. We urge the public to refrain from purchasing and consuming these products."

He added, "The Korea Customs Service will continue to strengthen cargo inspections on carry-on items, international mail, and express shipments to block the import and distribution of illegal food and pharmaceuticals domestically, and will actively crack down on illegal distribution and sales in cooperation with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.