SEJONG (Yonhap News) ― The amount of narcotics confiscated in South Korea jumped in 2012 as the nation’s crackdown efforts and international cooperation to prevent drug smuggling intensified, the customs office said Wednesday.
The Korea Customs Service said in a report that it confiscated a total of 33.8 kilograms of drugs like methamphetamine and cannabis last year, up 15 percent from a year earlier.
Methamphetamine, also known as philopon, came to 20.9 kilograms, an amount that could be administered to about 690,000 people, the report showed.
The amount of methamphetamine confiscated was the largest since 2004 when the agency caught 8 kilograms of the drug being smuggled into the country.
Synthetic cannabis came next with a total of 7 kilograms of the drug confiscated, followed by hemps with 2.5 kilograms.
“The crackdown figures increased sharply last year thanks to our stepped-up efforts to inspect travelers coming from worrisome countries, international mail and express cargo entering into our country along with more cooperation with foreign authorities,” a KCS official said.
