Caught Smuggling 'Synthetic Marijuana' into the Country as an International Student

A drug smuggling organization of Vietnamese nationality has been apprehended. It was revealed that the members of the smuggling organization were illegal immigrants who entered the country as international students.

On the 24th, the Busan Customs Office of the Korea Customs Service announced that it had arrested two Vietnamese international students and two others who purchased synthetic marijuana and other substances from them on charges of smuggling 46 bottles (each 10ml) of synthetic marijuana (JWH-018 analog) and 59 abortion pills into the country and distributing them domestically.

Provided by Busan Customs, Korea Customs Service

The Vietnamese international students caught were investigated to have smuggled synthetic marijuana and abortion pills hidden in artificial flower bouquets and other items as express cargo from September last year to January this year, and distributed and sold them by taking orders through social media such as Facebook.

They operated in a cell organization form, transporting smuggled drugs through Daegu~Changwon~Sejong, and sold them to domestic buyers using a throwing method.

The Busan Customs Office sent four people, including one supplier in Daegu, one supplier in Changwon, and two domestic buyers, to the Busan District Prosecutors' Office under arrest on charges of violating the Narcotics Control Act.

Separately, the Busan Customs Office requested Interpol to issue a red notice for the main supplier A, who resides in Vietnam, and issued an arrest warrant and placed a wanted notice for the supplier B in Sejong, who was deported earlier this year.

The Busan Customs Office began investigating after taking over the case of smuggling 10 bottles of synthetic marijuana detected at Incheon Airport Customs in September last year, and revealed the entire crime through eight months of controlled delivery, digital forensics, CCTV video analysis, tracking, and surveillance.

The smuggled synthetic marijuana is a chemical substance mainly developed for pain relief, and according to academic reports, it has a psychoactive effect up to 85 times stronger than THC, the psychoactive component of natural marijuana, depending on its chemical structure. The smuggled abortion pills are products with unknown ingredients not officially approved in Korea, known to cause severe side effects such as vomiting, delirium, or premature birth without abortion effects.

A Busan Customs official said, “There are signs that some foreign international students are attempting to distribute illegal drugs in Korea,” and added, “The Korea Customs Service will track supply sources and distribution networks to eradicate the domestic trade of new types of narcotics and will definitely apprehend those involved.”

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