The supreme prosecutors office (SPO) said it worked with the customs office to confiscate 16.4kg of methamphetamine shipped into the country from Malaysia between January and March.

It also shared criminal information and drug trafficking methods with Kuala Lumpur’s police.

Based on the intelligence, Malaysian police arrested 13 members of an international drug trafficking organisation based in the capital city. They also seized illicit drugs worth 5.42 billion won (RM19.8 million), including 64kg of ketamine and 12.2kg of methamphetamine, as well as the cartel’s production facility.

One of the arrested cartel members was found to have trafficked 8.2kg and 7.6kg of methamphetamine, seized by the Incheon and Cheongju’s district prosecutors’ offices respectively in January last year.

The prosecution said the confiscated amount of methamphetamine sent from Malaysia sharply rose from 3.6kg in 2020 to 16.4kg in the first quarter of this year. In 2018 and 2019, a combined 40kg of the drug was seized here.

Cases of people carrying drugs on flights had dropped due to strengthened immigration procedures amid the pandemic, but cases of narcotics smuggled through international shipping or Express Mail Service, hidden in clothes or food, had increased.

To crack down on such crimes, officials have beefed up surveillance of deliveries from Malaysia and swiftly shared acquired information, such as identification of consignors, with foreign police, the prosecution explained.

“Had the recent round-up of the drug cartel not succeeded, additional crimes would likely have been carried out in Korea,” the SPO said, explaining it was crucial to prevent the narcotics from crossing the border in the first place as most of them came from abroad.

As part of its anti-drug trafficking drive, the SPO said it is conducting a joint probe into drug crimes with Thailand and plans to strengthen cooperation with Laos’ investigative authorities to block drug trafficking to Korea.