Incheon Airport Customs officer Jeong Ye-jin selected for intercepting methamphetamine, ketamine and other drugs in four cases through analysis of domestic and overseas seizure patterns
The Korea Customs Service named Incheon Airport Customs officer Jeong Ye-jin its "Drug Busting Champion" for September 2026 on Monday, recognizing her proactive role in intercepting drug smuggling.
Jeong earned the honor by studying domestic and overseas drug seizure cases to identify high-risk regions, shippers and smuggling patterns, then applying those findings to screen cargo — ultimately seizing four shipments of methamphetamine, ketamine and other controlled substances totaling 2.5 kilograms.
Unlike the two previous Drug Busting Champions, who were selected for achievements in the investigation field, Jeong was recognized for her work at the customs clearance stage — closely analyzing risk factors to block drugs before they entered the country.
The four seizures made possible by Jeong's risk profiling were: 530 grams of ketamine hidden inside children's modeling clay, with the top layer covered by real clay to disguise the package as a normal product, found in cargo arriving at a high-risk delivery address; 897 grams of ketamine concealed inside a water pump, found in cargo brought in through a parcel-relay platform in a pattern matching past seizure cases; 447 grams of methamphetamine hidden inside children's products, flagged because the shipment originated from a known overseas drug source region and matched the profile of numerous previous seizures; and 592 grams of GBL — commonly known as "liquid ecstasy" — concealed inside cosmetics containers, identified based on a sender address and similar items matching overseas seizure records.
Meanwhile, the Korea Customs Service's Drug Busting Champion program, which has been running since last month, selects a monthly winner from among the "Customs Drug Busting Champions" chosen at each regional customs headquarters.
This month, Jeong competed against Drug Investigation Team 1 at Busan Customs, which was also nominated for the customs-level award.
The Busan team detained a Sri Lankan national identified as the ringleader of a cannabis smuggling operation through a joint operation with US Homeland Security Investigations, then arrested a fleeing accomplice after a four-month pursuit. The team also received a commendation plaque from HSI for its efforts.
The Korea Customs Service said it will continue operating the monthly Drug Busting Champion program to recognize outstanding employees across drug investigation, cargo inspection and X-ray screening, and to share enforcement know-how in order to strengthen front-line capabilities against drug smuggling.
Korea Customs Service Commissioner Lee Jong-wook said the agency achieves more than 90 percent of its drug seizures through its own capabilities, including intelligence analysis, adding that the selection of this month's champion illustrates the agency's proactive approach — identifying risk factors in advance and screening high-risk cargo.
"We will continue to strengthen our intelligence analysis capabilities based on accumulated enforcement experience and data, so that we can detect drug smuggling risks before they materialize and do our utmost to block drugs that threaten people's daily lives from entering the country," Lee said.
kwonhl@heraldcorp.com
