SEOUL, July 18 (Yonhap) — South Korea’s Customs Agency reported on Tuesday that they and their Thai counterparts had confiscated 72 kilograms of illegal drugs, an amount sufficient for 2.15 million people.
The Korea Customs Service (KCS) and the Thai customs authority conducted the operation from March to June and seized 47 kg of yaba, a combination of methamphetamine and caffeine, 12 kg of meth, and a variety of other narcotics by detecting 49 smuggling attempts.
This amount was almost three times the amount seized in their first joint crackdown one year prior, the KCS said.
Of the 49 cases, 25 were done through international mail, 20 through express cargo, and four through air travelers. Drug smuggling from Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries has increased in recent years, and the number of smugglers from such nations apprehended in South Korea has also risen.
The two countries held a meeting of officials in charge of drug smuggling and agreed to regularly carry out joint clampdown operations, rather than just temporary, special inspections. They also decided to send South Korean customs agency personnel to the Thai authorities for enhanced cooperation.
During the first four months of this year, the customs agency had captured a record amount of drugs, 213 kg, a 32 percent increase from the previous year.
This file photo taken July 6, 2023, shows a variety of drugs seized in recent police crackdowns. (Yonhap)
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