Amount of confiscated narcotics jumps this year: customs data

SEOUL, June 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's customs office said Friday that its confiscation of narcotics being smuggled into the nation jumped during the first four months of this year.
According to data offered by the Korea Customs Service (KCS), the agency confiscated 12.9 kilograms of drugs, including methamphetamine and marijuana, between January and April. The drugs were valued at about 36.3 billion won (US$33.3 million).
The amount of drugs confiscated is 3.4-times higher and represents a six-fold increase in estimated value compared to the same period a year earlier, the agency said.
Confiscated methamphetamine totaled 9.9 kilograms during this period, an amount that can be administered to about 3.3 million people simultaneously, according to the customs data.
The four-month total has already exceeded the 7.5 kilograms reported throughout last year, the data showed.
The KCS plans to beef up its crackdown on drug smugglers by deploying more drug-sniffing dogs and electronic detectors on travelers and cargo coming from suspected countries.
It will also seek to expand cooperation with other law enforcement agencies at home and abroad to prevent narcotics from entering the country, KCS officials said.
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