Cocaine seizures in South Korea surge 200 times over two years, sparking concern
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SEOUL - South Korea saw an alarming spike in cocaine trafficking via ship in 2025, with Customs authorities seizing 2,302kg of the drug between January and August.
That is a staggering 209 times what was seized in all of 2023, and more than 34 times the 67kg confiscated in 2024.
According to data from the Korea Customs Service (KCS), provided by Representative Chung Il-young of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, cocaine accounted for the vast majority of the 2,810kg of illegal drugs seized during the first eight months of 2025.
The KCS data showed that about 99 per cent of the confiscated cocaine came into the country via ship, with 1,690kg traced to vessels arriving from Peru.
Mr Chung warned that the findings suggest South Korean ports are increasingly being used in illegal trade network of international drug cartels.
“The fact that 56.1 per cent of drug suspects caught in the last five years are in their 20s and 30s is a serious warning sign that can rock the very foundation of the society,” he added.
The proportion of drug crime suspects in South Korea who are under the age of 40 has been on the upward trend. In 2024, a record 60.8 per cent of suspects were in their 20s and 30s, according to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office data.
South Korea’s Narcotics Control Act bans use, trade, possession and controlling of the narcotics, psychotropic drugs and marijuana, with some exceptions for medical prescriptions.
The government has conducted multiple special crackdowns since 2022, announcing a “war on drugs” that October.
The country has been particularly focused on curbing the number of teens involved in drug crimes, which soared from 41 in 2011 to 1,477 in 2023.
The number dwindled to 649 2024, and the percentage of teens among all suspects also decreased to 2.8 per cent, down from 5.3 per cent in 2023. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
