Korea Coast Guard Launches Intensive Crackdown on Drug Smuggling with Divers and Underwater Drones

The Korea Coast Guard will be conducting intensive crackdowns on maritime drug crimes until November, aiming to eradicate drug smuggling via sea routes and the distribution of narcotics among fishing village cooperatives and foreign maritime workers.

This operation will designate ships that depart from or transit through major drug-source countries and enter Korea as key targets, with strengthened inspection activities.

The Coast Guard plans to deploy professional divers and advanced equipment such as underwater drones to conduct thorough searches of the hull undersides and sea chests (seawater intakes) for any concealed narcotics.

Korea Coast Guard

Additionally, the authorities intend to take strong action against smuggling and distribution organizations operating within the closed communities formed among foreign workers. They will significantly strengthen monitoring and investigative tracking of the social networking services (SNS), dark web, and virtual asset transactions mainly used by these groups, with a focus on preemptively blocking increasingly sophisticated and decentralized online drug distribution networks.

Jang Insik, Acting Commissioner of the Korea Coast Guard, stated, "A single successful maritime drug smuggling attempt can bring a large volume of narcotics into the country and threaten our entire society. We will mobilize all of our investigative expertise and advanced equipment to thoroughly monitor and secure the sea routes."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.