Intercepted Right at the Airport: Record 1 Ton of Drugs Smuggled in First Half of Year

[Anchor]

The amount of illicit drugs intercepted while being smuggled into South Korea exceeded 1 ton in the first half of this year alone, marking an all-time high. As smuggling disguised as travel surges, dedicated drug inspection checkpoints have been deployed at airports.

Reporter Jung Jun-ho investigated the scene.

[Reporter]

White powder pours out from inside a baby crib frame.

[It looks like it's coming out from the whole side...]

It is ketamine, a drug commonly circulated in clubs.

When a motorcycle muffler is cut open, it is densely packed with over 3 kilograms of drugs.

In the first half of this year alone, over 1 ton of drugs was intercepted during attempts to smuggle them into the country.

This amount is enough for 33.58 million people to consume simultaneously, representing a record-high scale that is 2.6 times larger than last year.

Fifty-nine percent of drug smugglers were in their 30s or younger, and there were even 14 teenagers.

[Lee Jong-wook / Commissioner of the Korea Customs Service: The number of teenage drug offenders has increased sharply, reaching the 2% level, showing that the drug smuggling problem is expanding beyond young adults to teenagers.]

In particular, smuggling cases disguised as travelers rather than cargo or mail, which carry a high risk of detection, surged by 79% compared to last year.

The Korea Customs Service has responded by operating 13 dedicated drug inspection checkpoints across six airports nationwide.

Incoming passengers suspected of possessing drugs are singled out, and customs officers and drug investigators directly inspect their luggage, while body scanners catch drugs hidden on their persons.

What I am holding is a test sample of drugs.

Let us try passing through the scanner while carrying these drugs.

As you can see, the drugs I am carrying are displayed in red on the scanner screen.

If a substance suspected of being a drug is detected, its components are immediately verified on-site using a Raman spectrometer, which identifies drug types through light, or quick test kits.

As drug smuggling through regional international airports such as Daegu and Cheongju has recently surged, the Korea Customs Service plans to deploy additional dedicated drug inspection checkpoints at international airports nationwide in the second half of the year.

(Camera Reporter: Kim Seung-tae | Video Editing: Kim Jong-mi)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.