A new synthetic drug substance, never before reported domestically or internationally, has been first detected and identified in Korea.
The Korea Customs Service Central Customs Laboratory announced on the 12th that it detected a ‘Mescaline’ analogue drug smuggled into the country and identified it as a new synthetic drug substance through chemical structure analysis.
According to the Central Customs Laboratory, the problematic substance was detected in an unidentified powder imported from France via international mail. Chemical structure analysis revealed that the unidentified powder contained a ‘Mescaline’ analogue drug.
Mescaline is a hallucinogenic alkaloid extracted from natural substances such as the peyote cactus and is classified as a psychotropic drug under the Narcotics Control Act.
The newly detected synthetic drug substance (Mescaline analogue) identified through chemical structure analysis is ‘4-Benzyloxy-3, 5-dimethoxyphenethylamine.’ The Central Customs Laboratory is the first in the world to identify this substance as a new synthetic drug.
The Central Customs Laboratory judged that ‘4-Benzyloxy-3, 5-dimethoxyphenethylamine’ poses a risk to public health and requested the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to consider its designation as a temporary narcotic. The Ministry also determined that the substance could be distributed as a substitute narcotic and registered it as a new temporary narcotic.
‘2-Bromomescaline’ was also detected in the powder. This substance is already designated as a temporary narcotic and is known to have a chemical structure similar to existing narcotics. However, this is the first time ‘2-Bromomescaline’ has been detected in Korea.
Park Jaeseon, head of the Central Customs Laboratory, stated, “To proactively block the inflow of new drugs into the country, we will strengthen cooperation with domestic and international related agencies and enhance our capabilities in analyzing new drugs.”
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