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Seoul [South Korea], July 26 (ANI/Xinhua): The number of smuggled drugs, impounded by the South Korean customs agency, logged double-digit growth in the first half of this year due to a surge in drug trafficking through international mail amid the COVID-19 pandemic, data showed Tuesday.
A total of 238 kg of drugs were confiscated in the first six months of this year, up 11.2 per cent from the same period of last year, according to Korea Customs Service. The pandemic stimulated drug smuggling via international mail and cargo, which jumped 78.9 per cent over the year to 229 kg in the first half of the year. The drug delivery by travellers advanced 29.7 per cent to 8.3 kg. The number of drug-smuggling cases, caught by the customs agency, tumbled 43.8 per cent to 372, but the average amount of confiscated drugs in a single case doubled to 0.64 kg in the first half of the year from 0.32 kg a year earlier. By type, the amount of seized methamphetamine almost doubled to 86.9 kg in the first half of the year amid rising smuggling attempts from Southeast Asian countries and the United States. The confiscated hemp soared 30.5 per cent to 57.8 kg, trailed by phenobarbital with 31 kg and MDMA with 8.5 kg, respectively. (ANI/Xinhua)
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