Two Arrested Including Black-Haired Foreigner for Smuggling High-Concentration Drugs 40 Times Stronger Than Marijuana

Seizure of 1.8kg Smuggled Daema Oil Confiscated

International mail containing concealed hemp oil (Photo by Korea Customs Service)

Two individuals were arrested for smuggling 'hemp oil' concentrated to 40 times the THC content of marijuana.

The Korea Customs Service announced on the 20th that Incheon Airport Customs arrested Mr. A, who smuggled 1.8kg of high-concentration hemp oil and smoking devices last month, and Mr. B, a Korean-Canadian overseas supplier, on charges of violating the Narcotics Control Act, and sent them to the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office for investigation.

Hemp oil is a drug concentrated with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the hallucinogenic component found in marijuana, at 40 times the concentration of marijuana. The hemp oil is made into liquid marijuana and inserted into cartridges, which are then smoked like a type of electronic cigarette.

According to the Customs Service investigation, Mr. A and Mr. B met in Canada and maintained contact via Telegram. In two instances, in October last year and January this year, they smuggled high-concentration hemp oil disguised as honey products and smoking devices disguised as electronic components through international mail and express cargo.

They were caught while attempting to smuggle high-concentration hemp oil, which has a large price difference domestically and internationally, and then manufacture and sell liquid marijuana cartridges domestically using the smuggled material. The purchase cost of 1g of hemp oil in Canada is about 4,000 KRW, but liquid marijuana cartridges containing 1g are traded domestically for about 200,000 KRW each.

Seized cannabis oil (Photo by Korea Customs Service)

Incheon Airport Customs detected two bottles (1.5kg) of hemp oil during an international mail inspection in January this year. They then disguised the mail as if it had been sent normally and arrested recipient Mr. A.

They also tracked and urgently arrested Mr. B, who was attempting to flee abroad while staying in Korea. During the arrest, they additionally discovered the smuggling incident from October last year and seized 0.3kg of hemp oil brought in at that time.

Analysis showed that the high-concentration hemp oil seized this time had a THC concentration of over 77% (marijuana's THC concentration is about 2-3%). A Customs Service official stated, "Because its dependency and addictiveness are significantly higher than other marijuana products, if distributed domestically, it could pose a serious risk to public safety. However, we were able to detect and block it in advance," adding, "We will focus all our efforts on blocking the smuggling of high-concentration narcotics that guarantee high profits to drug offenders to protect the health and safety of the public."

Meanwhile, the Customs Service has seized a total of 140 cases and about 52kg of hemp oil from last year through February this year. This amount is enough to smoke approximately 52,000 cartridges, or about 2 million times (each cartridge allows about 40 puffs).

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