13 dentists arrested in South Korea for treating patients with medical equipment imported directly from China

Dentists have been caught by Chinese customs smuggling uncertified dental equipment through the Chinese e-commerce platform AliExpress.
The imported medical equipment was found to have been actually used to treat patients. The Korea Customs Service's Seoul headquarters customs office announced on the 6th that they had arrested 13 dentists on suspicion of violating customs laws and smuggling.
The equipment they purchased was worth 140 million won (US$153,800) at current market value. According to the Korea Customs Service, they made 1,184 purchases from December 2022 to April this year.
They purchased medical and dental equipment for treatment purposes on AliExpress. They disguised the equipment as for their own use, and avoided import requirements and customs duties.
The dental equipment seized included dental drills used for treating cavities and cutting teeth, and oral anesthesia syringes that come into direct contact with patients' gums.
The authorities said that items costing less than $150 (approximately 23,100 yen) that are used by individuals or companies as samples and are not subject to import requirements verification will be imported with minimal product and transaction information.
However, when importing medical devices into Korea, the medical device manufacturer must submit a list control system, which allows them to clear customs without an import declaration, except for some cases such as self-treatment.
They must obtain a license to import equipment and go through the proper import customs procedures. However, even though they knew about these procedures, they chose to sell their products in the overseas open market to reduce costs.
The investigation revealed that the group also shared information about overseas medical equipment in group chats.
The Korea Customs Service has announced that it will fine 10 to 20 million won to 13 dentists for allegedly violating the customs law.
The Seoul Customs Office said, "We are preventing the entry of uncertified and unlicensed medical equipment and other items that pose a threat to social safety into Korea.
"To prevent this from happening again, we will strengthen customs management for direct imports from overseas and continue to monitor distribution in Korea."