Veterinarian Caught Smuggling Animal Medicines Worth 1 Billion KRW

A veterinarian who smuggled animal pharmaceuticals worth about 1 billion KRW was caught and sent to the prosecution.

On the 13th, the Seoul Regional Customs Office of the Korea Customs Service announced that veterinarian A (46), who purchased 6,580 boxes of animal pharmaceuticals from a Spanish local animal pharmaceutical sales website and smuggled them via international mail, was sent to the prosecution without detention on charges of violating the Customs Act and the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act.

According to Seoul Customs, from July 2017 to September last year, A evaded import requirements by using tricks while importing unapproved animal pharmaceuticals that cannot be used or sold domestically.

The method involved disguising the imported animal pharmaceuticals as small-value personal use items and distributing them to the addresses of eight family members and acquaintances over hundreds of shipments. This case exploited the provision under the Customs Act that exempts customs duties and requirement checks for personal use items valued under 150 USD.

During the smuggling process, A disguised the animal pharmaceuticals as items such as calendars and imported them via international mail, or declared them under different product names such as dog food to evade customs surveillance.

When importing animal pharmaceuticals, formal customs clearance must be obtained after receiving item-specific approval or filing a report with the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency and submitting an import declaration under the Customs Act, but A did not comply with these regulations.

In particular, it was revealed that the smuggled animal pharmaceuticals were improperly profited from by directly prescribing them at the animal hospital operated by A or selling them to other veterinarians through a veterinarian community (internet cafe).

The seized animal pharmaceuticals included treatments for tumors, osteoarthritis, and congestive heart failure. Although these drugs are approved overseas in Europe and other regions, they are unapproved products domestically, Seoul Customs explained.

A Seoul Customs official said, “As the population living with companion animals increases, concerns are growing about the importation of unapproved animal pharmaceuticals into the country without proper import procedures.” He added, “Customs will thoroughly crack down on illegal activities exploiting simplified customs clearance systems such as international mail.”

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