SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean authorities found about one tonne of suspected cocaine on Wednesday on board a ship docked at a port, a customs service spokesperson said, in what appears to be the largest haul of smuggled drugs in the country’s history.
Korea Customs Service and Coast Guard found more than 50 boxes of suspected cocaine, each weighing roughly 20 kg, on a bulk ship docked at a port in Gangneung city on the east coast of the Korean Peninsula, the spokesperson said.
They searched the ship after receiving information from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Homeland Security Investigations (HIS), South Korean authorities said in a separate statement.
The ship originally left Mexico and travelled via Ecuador, Panama and China before reaching the South Korean port, the statement said.
The suspected cocaine haul is expected to easily outweigh South Korea’s previous record for smuggled drugs, which was 404 kilogrammes of methamphetamine found in 2021, the customs spokesperson said.
South Korea has tough drug laws, and crimes are typically punishable by at least six months in prison or up to 15 years or more for repeat offenders and dealers.
(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Gareth Jones)
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