Overview
- Customs officers seized 2,302 kilograms of cocaine from January to August 2025, 209 times the total seized in 2023 and over 34 times the 67 kilograms seized in 2024.
- Cocaine made up the vast majority of the 2,810 kilograms of illegal drugs confiscated in the first eight months of 2025, according to Korea Customs Service figures.
- Roughly 99 percent of the cocaine entered by ship, with 1,690 kilograms traced to vessels arriving from Peru.
- A 600-kilogram haul was confiscated from a Latin America-bound cargo ship that had arrived at Busan Port on Aug. 6, highlighting port vulnerabilities.
- Officials continue an anti-drug crackdown launched in 2022, as data show a growing share of suspects in their 20s and 30s in 2024 and a decline in teen cases compared with 2023.