Seoul expands narcotic checks while raiding traditional markets

South Korean authorities are tightening their grip on narcotic abuse by merging high-tech prescription tracking with aggressive street-level raids. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety is executing a dual strategy that targets both the digital loopholes enabling 'medical shopping' and the physical marketplaces selling unapproved medicines.

Starting August 27, doctors must check a patient's medication history from the past year before prescribing propofol, a widely used anesthetic. This expansion follows earlier interventions for fentanyl, where patient numbers dropped 35.7 percent over two years after similar rules were introduced in June 2024.

To avoid disrupting routine procedures like sleep endoscopies, the new alert system will primarily flag patients who have received the drug above a certain frequency. The ministry rolled out this measure after identifying individuals visiting an average of six medical facilities to receive the drug roughly 29 times annually, mostly for cosmetic procedures.

While regulators fortify digital defenses, enforcement teams are sweeping through traditional commerce hubs. In a joint operation targeting import shops in Seoul's Namdaemun Market and Daegu's Gyodong Market, inspectors found that 69.7 percent of the 43 visited locations were selling unauthorized foreign medicines.

Officers seized approximately 1,300 items including painkillers like Tylenol and Advil, along with various stomach remedies and patches not approved for domestic sale. The ministry has referred 30 violating shops to investigation teams and requested customs officials to block further entry of these goods.

On August 28, officials from the ministry and the Korea Institute of Drug Safety & Risk Management began educating Seoul metropolitan narcotics monitors on using the Narcotics Integrated Management System to spot irregularities. Training for civil servants across the country will continue through September and November.

Minister Oh Yoo-kyung emphasized that big data analysis would drive future oversight, promising continued scrutiny of medical institutions and shopping behaviors.