99% of confiscated cocaine entered country via ships, with over 70% of it arriving from Peru

A South Korean official displays a packet of cocaine, part of a total 600 kilograms seized and confiscated from a Latin America-bound cargo ship that arrived at Busan Port, in this photo taken on Aug 6. (Newsis)
A South Korean official displays a packet of cocaine, part of a total 600 kilograms seized and confiscated from a Latin America-bound cargo ship that arrived at Busan Port, in this photo taken on Aug 6. (Newsis)

South Korea saw an alarming spike in cocaine trafficking via ship this year, with customs authorities seizing 2,302 kilograms of the drug between January and August.

That is a staggering 209 times what was seized in all of 2023, and over 34 times the 67 kilograms confiscated last year.

According to data from the Korea Customs Service, provided by Rep. Chung Il-young of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, cocaine accounted for the vast majority of the 2,810 kilograms of illegal drugs seized during the first eight months of this year.

The KCS data showed about 99 percent of the confiscated cocaine came into the country via ship, with 1,690 kilograms traced to vessels arriving from Peru.

Rep. Chung warned that the findings suggest Korean ports are increasingly being used in illegal trade network of international drug cartels,.

"The fact that 56.1 percent of drug suspects caught in the last five years are in their 20s and 30s is a serious warning sign that can rock the very foundation of the society," he added.

The proportion of drug crime suspects in Korea who are under the age of 40 has been on the upward trend. Last year, a record 60.8 percent of suspects were in their 20s and 30s, according to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office data.

South Korea's Narcotics Control Act bans use, trade, possession and controlling of the narcotics, psychotropic drugs and marijuana, with some exceptions for medical prescriptions.

The government has conducted multiple special crackdowns since 2022, announcing a "War on Drugs" that October.

The country has been particularly focused on curbing the number of teens involved in drug crimes, which soared from 41 in 2011 to 1,477 in 2023. The number dwindled to 649 last year, and the percentage of teens among all suspects also decreased to 2.8 percent, down from 5.3 percent in 2023.


minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com