Gwangju Customs Seizes Successive Large-Scale Drug Smugglers from Southeast Asia

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] Gwangju Customs announced on the 15th that it has sent two Southeast Asians who smuggled narcotics from Southeast Asia and distributed them domestically to the prosecution in custody.

Two individuals, including A (25), are accused of packaging synthetic cannabis injected in liquid form inside electronic cigarettes along with snacks in courier boxes, disguising them as food products, smuggling them since March until recently, and distributing them domestically through social networking services (SNS).

Synthetic cannabis has a structure similar to THC, the hallucinogenic component of marijuana, with hallucinogenic effects five times stronger than marijuana, and can be freely inhaled anywhere using electronic cigarette cartridges.

The synthetic cannabis they smuggled amounts to 12.6 kg, valued at approximately 510 million KRW, and showed meticulousness by using more than 30 different people's names during the import process into the country.

Last month, Gwangju Customs also arrested two Koreans who smuggled 7.5 kg of synthetic cannabis worth about 370 million KRW from Southeast Asia and distributed it domestically.

Kim Yang-gwan, head of the investigation department, said, "Recently, the import of synthetic cannabis has been increasing in Gwangju and Jeollanam-do and Jeollabuk-do," citing as main causes ▲ the increase of Southeast Asian workers in the region due to labor shortages in small and medium-sized enterprises and agriculture and fisheries ▲ ease of carrying and inhaling.

Gwangju Customs stated, "We will strengthen information analysis on small personal cargo such as international mail and express cargo, continuously supplement advanced scientific equipment, and enhance cooperation with domestic and international investigative agencies to thoroughly block narcotics smuggling," and requested, "Since narcotics can be disguised and traded as electronic cigarettes online, we ask the public to be especially cautious and to report immediately to Customs (dial 125 without area code) if they find any suspicious narcotics smuggling situations or suspicious items."

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