Expands Joint Drug Crackdowns to 10 Countries, Integrates Data for Preemptive Interdiction

The Korea Customs Service will establish a 'Narcotics Information Center' to integrate and manage data on drug offenders, pharmaceutical prescriptions, travelers, and cargo, and introduce a preemptive interdiction system to block drug imports at border stages. The plan aims to analyze and utilize information previously scattered across different routes in a centralized manner, fundamentally sealing off all types of smuggling, including through travelers, express shipments, and international mail.

The Customs Service held a meeting of the '2025 Special Task Force for Drug Smuggling Countermeasures' on the 5th and announced the 'Comprehensive Drug Control Measures.' As of October this year, 1,032 cases and 2,913 kg of drugs were seized, marking a 384% surge in weight compared to the previous year and the highest level ever recorded.

The core of the comprehensive measures is the integration and refinement of narcotics-related information. The newly established 'Narcotics Information Center' will collect and consolidate diverse data, including existing information held by the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Supreme Prosecutors' Office, and Ministry of Science and ICT. It will also incorporate the Ministry of National Defense's data on military drug offenders, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's records on excessive narcotics prescribers, passenger name record (PNR) data from European Union, EU, airlines, and information on the manufacturing of narcotic raw materials.

The key focus is to unify previously fragmented information systems -- managed separately by traveler, express, and postal routes -- into a single platform for comprehensive risk analysis and standardization of screening criteria for high-risk travelers and cargo.

Enhanced inspections will also be implemented across all import routes. Immediate blanket inspections upon aircraft landings will be expanded to all terminals at Incheon International Airport, and legal grounds for body searches will be established in cases where drug concealment is suspected.

For express shipments and international mail, dedicated import channels will be established, and a focused X-ray reading system ensuring at least seven seconds per scan will be introduced. For container cargo, a two-stage inspection process will be added, and 'NICE teams' (Narcotics Investigation and Control Expert teams) will be deployed at Busan, Incheon, and Pyeongtaek ports to analyze high-risk cargo intensively. A dual X-ray reading system using artificial intelligence (AI) will also be introduced, enabling cross-verification by both personnel and AI.

International cooperation will be significantly expanded. While joint operations were previously conducted with five countries -- Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, the United States, and the Netherlands -- the Customs Service will add Cambodia, Laos, Germany, Canada, and France next year, bringing the total to ten countries. A so-called 'Korean Desk for Drug Cases' will be established to simultaneously screen high-risk cargo and travelers at both departure countries and Korean borders. 'Two-way crackdowns' will also be strengthened by providing overseas supplier information to sending countries' agencies to block smuggling at its source.

The Customs Service plans to gradually expand interdiction infrastructure, including millimeter-wave scanners, AI X-ray systems, dedicated narcotics analysis centers, and increased breeding of detection dogs. It will also run a public campaign, sharing year-round interdiction activities in story format.

Korea Customs Service Establishes Narcotics Information Center