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The customs agencies of Korea and Thailand have carried out a joint crackdown on drug smuggling and confiscated a large amount of methamphetamine and other narcotics, government officials said Tuesday.

The Korea Customs Service (KCS) and its Thai counterpart confiscated 22 kilograms of methamphetamine, some 290,000 tablets of yaba, a combination of meth and caffeine, and other types of drugs following their four-month operation that kicked off in May, according to the KCS.

The crackdown came as drug smuggling from Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries has spiked in recent years. The number of smugglers who came from such nations and were caught in Korea has also risen.

In 2021, Korea's customs agency detected 123 cases of methamphetamine smuggling, and among them, nearly 49 percent, or 60 cases, came from Thailand, data showed.

The amount of the drugs confiscated from the latest crackdown was also staggering, enough to be used by 3.92 million people at the same time, according to the agency.

More than 80 percent of drug smuggling was carried out through international mail, followed by express cargo with 11 percent and air travelers with 6 percent. (Yonhap)