The Incheon Airport Customs of the Korea Customs Service said on the 9th it arrested and referred to prosecutors for detention a Dutch national, identified as A, on suspicion of violating the Narcotics Control Act after finding 175.13 grams of drugs hidden on the body as A tried to enter the country.
The amount of the drug "MDMA (ecstasy)" seized this time is enough for 5,830 people to take at once. MDMA, also known as "doridori," causes strong hallucinations and triggers serious side effects such as depression, memory loss, and anxiety disorders.
Customs said A had already been classified as a high-risk drug courier through a risk analysis of travelers from Europe.
A detailed search of A, who tried to pass through the duty-free line after entry, found four lumps (34.69 grams) of MDMA at the bottom of a headset box. A subsequent, more detailed check found an additional 16 lumps (140.44 grams) of MDMA hidden in the anus.
The investigation found that A, who had been staying at a homeless shelter in the Netherlands, was asked by a drug organization to transport drugs in exchange for money. A inserted capsule-form MDMA into the anus at the direction of the organization, then traveled by train to France and attempted to enter Incheon Airport from Paris Airport.
This smuggling method is called "body packing." While highly concealable, it is extremely dangerous because leakage of the drug inside the body can be fatal. It is a tactic international drug organizations mainly use when recruiting couriers from socially vulnerable groups.
A customs official said, "There have recently been cases of using socially vulnerable groups as drug couriers," and added, "We will strictly respond to attempts to smuggle in narcotics by strengthening the selection and screening of high-risk travelers using an AI-based risk analysis system."