<Anchor>



You hear a lot of news about drugs these days.

The situation in Korea has deteriorated a lot in recent years to the extent that it is not appropriate to say that it is now a drug-free country.

Drugs caught in smuggling increased more than eight-fold in one year, and cocaine, particularly the poisonous and dangerous, more than 3,000-fold in five years.



Reporter Jo Ki-ho covered the subtle drug smuggling methods and routes.



<Reporter>



[Cocaine is the grace of the Lord, born naturally]



Recently, a popular drama about Korean drug dealers operating in Central and South America is popular, but in reality, drugs are already close to our side.



Even the crackdown team shudders while disassembling the suspicious watch packaging.



[(It is filled in places….) Like a beehive.

(No, it's in here.)]



After several attempts, he cuts through the cardboard, and the hidden methamphetamine spills out.



After the Corona crisis, people's interactions are cut off, and the number of international couriers is increasing instead, and drug smuggling is also increasing.



They fill empty spaces in electronic products such as electric pots and coffee pots with drugs, even in sticky cosmetics or wool bundles, and trick them into imports.



They even hid drugs inside large factory gears that had to be cut with a chainsaw.



It is becoming more and more difficult to crack down on drugs because they are hidden in an intact object.



[Hyun Samgong / International Investigation Division Officer, Customs Administration: Because we cannot inspect all these people and cargoes, we use the know-how and information analysis (target inspection) and conduct intensive detailed inspections…

]



In the past five years, most of the drugs detected were made in Latin America and entered via the United States, followed by China.



However, since last year, drugs have been coming in from all over the world, from Thailand and Vietnam, and the number of those caught is also increasing.



More precise measures to block smuggling are needed through international cooperation.



(Video coverage: Kim Min-cheol, Video editing: Kim Jun-hee)