Illegal smuggling and currency trading significantly eased as the Covid-19 has put international air travel to a virtual stop, government data found.

Korea Customs Service said Sunday that it cracked down on 1,004 smuggling cases from January to August, down 69 percent from 3,211 cases reported in the same period last year. The number came far below the annual average smuggling cases of 2,546 from 2016 to 2019.

By item, tobacco smuggling plunged 85 percent to 244 from 1,631 over the period. Electronics dropped 67 percent, shoes and bags 52 percent and apparel 53 percent.

The number of drug smuggling cases rose 21 percent to 549, but their combined value fell 30 percent to 11.98 trillion won ($10.6 billion) from 17.95 trillion won last year. It means that large-scale substance smuggling for the purpose of distribution is on the decrease, while the number of small cases for personal use increased, the customs bureau said.

“Direct smuggling by travelers sharply fell due to the Covid-19 travel restrictions but smuggling via cargo delivery or international mailing is on the increase,” an official from the agency said. “We have stepped up monitoring on international cargo and mail especially from blacklist countries.”

According to separate data from Korea Customs Service disclosed to Rep. Yang Kyung-sook of the ruling Democratic Party, the number of illegal foreign exchange transactions also tumbled 42 percent from 166 in 2019 to 95 from January to August.

The volume of such illegal currency trading decreased nine fold to 275.7 billion won from 2.06 trillion won last year. The amount of laundered money was cut by a quarter to 22.4 billion won from 84.1 billion won.

But experts warn that the authorities must not let the guard down because there is a rise of new methods through digital currencies or illicit financial flows via YouTube creators. Yang pointed out that the government needs to strengthen supervision against new illicit currency transactions.

By Kim Jung-hwan, Kim Hee-rae and Choi Mira

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]