South Korea Seizes 657 kg of Illegal Drugs from Cambodia, Thailand in Q1

SEOUL, April 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's customs authorities said Thursday it seized more than 650 kilograms of illegal drugs coming from Cambodia and Thailand at the border in the first quarter, during joint crackdown operations with customs agencies of the two countries. A total of 657 kg of narcotics were confiscated in the January-March period, an amount that could supply some 1.8 million people, according to the Korea Customs Service (KCS). Methamphetamine, marijuana and etomidate, an anesthetic agent used to induce sedation, were included among the drugs seized in the 32 cases uncovered by the two collaborative investigations, the agency said. By country, 28 cases involving 651.4 kg of narcotics were caught under a joint crackdown, dubbed "TRIDENT," with Thai authorities. The amount of drugs seized marked the highest for a single crackdown, since the two countries started carrying out such operations in 2022, the agency said. An aggregate 14 cases, involving 1,037 kg of illegal drugs, were uncovered during the past five joint investigations conducted so far, the agency said. On the Cambodia front, authorities have cracked down in four cases, involving 5.7 kg of illegal drugs, under operation "LIONSTONE," that was carried out from Jan. 26 to Feb. 28. South Korea and Cambodia have been working closely since last year to prevent traffickers from diversifying their drug supply routes to other adjacent countries, the KCS said. Lee Myeong-ku, the KCS commission, vowed to prevent "even a single dose" of illegal drugs from crossing the South Korean border, adding that his agency plans to work with relevant government authorities to track the supply routes of illegal narcotics.