Customs officials caught 4,155 attempts to smuggle in obesity treatments, including Mounjaro and Wegovy, between January and June, the Korea Customs Service said Monday.
The tally is about 3.5 times the 1,189 cases recorded for all of last year.
Seizures have climbed steeply since the two drugs launched in South Korea, rising from just four cases in 2024 to 1,189 in 2025 and topping 4,000 in the first six months of this year alone. Cumulative seizures from 2024 through June reached 5,348, dwarfing the 596 shipments that cleared customs through licensed importers over the same period.
Postal seizures soared from two cases in 2024 to 1,046 last year and 3,489 in the first half of 2026, accounting for 84.8 percent of all cases as buyers increasingly ordered the drugs from overseas websites for direct delivery.
Interceptions of travelers' personal effects also rose sharply, reaching 656 cases, while express-cargo seizures remained negligible
Ordinary medicines may be brought in for personal use within set limits, but Mounjaro and Wegovy are designated hazardous drugs by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and cannot enter the country without a waiver certificate.
Customs blocks them regardless of quantity and destroys any that surface at the border.
The agency said it would rigorously choke off the flow of hazardous drugs at the border.
AJP Takeaways
The Korea Customs Service reported 4,155 attempts to illegally import Wegovy and Mounjaro in the first half of 2026, already exceeding the full-year figure for 2025.
International postal shipments made up 84.8% of the seized cases, as buyers ordered the drugs from overseas websites for direct delivery.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety classifies Wegovy and Mounjaro as hazardous drugs, meaning customs blocks and destroys them at the border regardless of quantity.
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