Korean Customs Service uncovers previously unseen synthetic narcotic in parcel from France
Published: 12 Feb. 2025, 15:09
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- LIM JEONG-WON
- [email protected]
![Customs officials check parcels sent from overseas while looking at X-ray images at the cargo terminal of Incheon International Airport on July 4, 2023. [KANG JUNG-KYUN]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/02/12/431f1965-241f-460c-b142-0a13b08efb3e.jpg)
Customs officials check parcels sent from overseas while looking at X-ray images at the cargo terminal of Incheon International Airport on July 4, 2023. [KANG JUNG-KYUN]
A new synthetic drug was discovered in a parcel that arrived in Korea via international mail from France.
The Central Customs Laboratory and Scientific Service under the Korea Customs Service announced Wednesday that it had identified the drug — never before reported domestically or internationally — and temporarily designated it a narcotic.
The two new narcotics are analogs of the powerful hallucinogen mescaline and were detected in an unidentified powder imported from France via international mail. Mescaline is a hallucinogenic alkaloid extracted from the peyote cactus and is classified as a psychotropic drug in Korea.
The Central Customs Laboratory and Scientific Service conducted a chemical structure analysis of the powder and discovered that the substance was a new synthetic narcotic. The lab asked the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to provisionally designate the substance, which may pose a risk to public health, as a narcotic.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s review concluded that the substance in question was likely to be distributed as a substitute for narcotics and was, therefore, temporarily registered as a narcotic.
“To preemptively block the inflow of new forms of narcotics into the country, we will strengthen cooperation with related domestic and international organizations while further strengthening the analysis capabilities of our staff for new narcotics,” said Park Jae-seon, head of the Central Customs Laboratory and Scientific Service.
BY LIM JEONG-WON [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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