Increase in Drug Trafficking via International Mail... Korea Customs Service Seizes 214.2kg in First Half of the Year

Narcotics seizure statistics by route from 2018 to June 2021. Provided by the Korea Customs Service.

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] As COVID-19 prolongs, non-face-to-face drug transactions using international mail and express parcels are increasing.

The Korea Customs Service announced on the 15th that it seized 214.2 kg of narcotics (662 cases) at customs borders in the first half of this year.

This represents a 59% increase in the number of cases and a 153% increase in weight compared to the first half of last year.

In particular, the number of cases caught attempting to smuggle drugs into the country using international mail and express parcels increased by 283%, from 158 cases in the first half of last year to 605 cases in the first half of this year.

Among the seized narcotics, the so-called "Philopon (methamphetamine)," which is mainly abused domestically, totaled 43.5 kg. This is a 77% increase in weight compared to the first half of last year (24.5 kg) and is enough for 1.45 million people to use simultaneously.

The number of seizures of MDMA and LSD, types of synthetic drugs, also increased significantly.

For MDMA, the number of cases rose from 19 in the first half of last year to 51 in the first half of this year (168%↑), and for LSD, from 14 to 42 cases (200%↑) during the same period.

Ketamine, which is recently often misused in sex crimes, also saw a sharp increase in seizures from 6 to 22 cases (267%↑).

On the other hand, marijuana cases decreased by 10% in number and 4% in weight compared to the same period last year. The decline in marijuana seizures is mainly attributed to the reduced number of air travelers entering the country due to COVID-19. In fact, marijuana seizures among air travelers dropped sharply from 150 cases in the first half of last year to 39 cases (74%↓) in the first half of this year.

The Korea Customs Service pointed out key trends in narcotics smuggling in the first half of the year, including the continued large-scale smuggling (over 1 kg) of Philopon by international drug organizations from overseas, the recent increase in Philopon smuggling cases from Southeast Asia such as Thailand to the western United States, and the frequent detection of small quantities (under 10 g) of narcotics using international mail and express parcels.

Among these, the smuggling of narcotics using international mail and express parcels is analyzed to be influenced not only by COVID-19 but also by the increasing trend of young people purchasing narcotics directly from overseas.

A Korea Customs Service official stated, "The scale of Philopon seizures in the Asia-Pacific region has been breaking records for several years," adding, "This seems to be connected to the increasing trend of domestic drug smuggling crimes."

He emphasized, "The Korea Customs Service plans to tighten its crackdown network to block the inflow of narcotics into the country and employ a dual strategy of cooperating with overseas enforcement agencies to cut off illegal distribution channels of narcotics."

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