In the 1980s, South Korea was a meth exporter. Now, its drug labs are back
With border seizures up, criminals are turning to home-grown labs, manufacturing everything from meth to synthetic drugs in urban hideouts
As authorities ramp up efforts to block drug smuggling across borders, criminals are increasingly turning to producing narcotics domestically using imported chemical precursors.
In 2023, 23,022 people were caught for drug-related offences in South Korea, the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office said on Sunday. While this was a 16.6 per cent decrease from the record high of 27,611 in 2022, the figure still represented a nearly 20-fold jump from the 1,190 cases reported in 1985, when drug crime statistics were first recorded.
The number of drug manufacturing offences, excluding cannabis-related cases, is also on the rise. From zero in 2005, the figure climbed to four in 2010, nine in 2020, and six in 2023, reaching 19 in 2024, the highest since type-specific statistics began in 2000.
In the 1980s, South Korea faced international embarrassment as a methamphetamine-exporting country. But tougher crackdowns eventually dismantled domestic labs.
Now, with border seizures intensifying – over 1,170kg (2,579lbs) of drugs were confiscated last year – there is a growing trend of smuggling in precursor chemicals to produce narcotics within South Korea.