The Korea Herald

지나쌤

Confiscated narcotics soar in H1: customs data

By Yonhap

Published : July 16, 2018 - 14:29

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The amount of illegal narcotics confiscated in South Korea jumped in the first six months of the year, as more drugs are being smuggled in through increasingly diverse means, the customs office said Monday.

The Korea Customs Service said that it confiscated a total of 146.9 kilograms of drugs in the January-June period, more than a fivefold jump from a year earlier.

(Yonhap) (Yonhap)

The amount has an estimated street value of 203 billion won ($180 million), also marking more than a fourfold increase from a year earlier, it added.

The KCS said it would the largest amount in 10 years should the trend continue during the remainder of the year.

The agency said the increase is due in part to the growing scale of drug smuggling. Some snuck in small amounts through international mail, and the country has been used as a stopover for delivery to other countries, it said. (Yonhap)