South Korean police in cooperation with the global police organization Interpol confiscated drugs worth about 1.4 trillion won (US$1.04 billion) across the Golden Triangle region, said South Korean police, calling the region the “main origin” of the drug ketamine.
The Golden Triangle is a loosely-defined area where Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet along the banks of the Mekong River, where for years, central governments have struggled, in some places, to impose authority.
The Korean National Police Agency said it also rounded 29 drug offenders during a 16-day joint crackdown between July 22 and Aug. 7, including the main suspect involved in smuggling drugs from Thailand to South Korea.
Among the confiscated drugs were 1.5 tons of ketamine, the agency announced, adding that the Golden Triangle region is the main origin of the synthetic narcotic.
The Korean police agency did not give details of exactly where the drugs were seized and the suspects were detained.
The Golden Triangle has for decades been a major opium-growing region but in recent years gangs, mostly in Myanmar, have also focused on producing synthetic drugs including methamphetamines.
The agency has been carrying out anti-drug projects in cooperation with Interpol since last year in order to beef up international cooperation as most drugs circulated in South Korea are smuggled from overseas.
“We could learn through this operation the means of how the drug suppliers smuggle synthetic drugs and raw materials,” said Jurgen Stock, secretary general of Interpol, adding cooperation with Interpol facilitated the real-time information exchange between participating countries.
RELATED STORIES
[ Lao police seize 14 million meth pills, arrest two suspectsOpens in new window ]
South Korea has seen a rise in smuggled drugs from Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand in recent years.
According to the Korea Customs Service, Southeast Asia was the main source of drugs in the first half of this year by weight seized, with more than half of the total.
“In the Golden Triangle region, particularly in Myanmar, drugs flow across the land border into Thailand, and some of them enter South Korea,” the customs service said on Sept. 1.
The agency and 13 Asia-Pacific countries, including Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia and India, and the chief of police from coyotes in the ASEAN regional grouping announced on Tuesday a plan to launch an Asian Narcotics Crime Response Alliance to directly and swiftly share drug-related information among members.
Edited by RFA Staff.