The smuggled dental equipments (Korea Customs Service)

South Korea’s customs agency said Wednesday it has caught 13 dentists smuggling uncertified dental equipment into the country by purchasing it on Chinese e-commerce platform AliExpress.

The dentists are accused of importing 11,349 pieces of equipment, worth approximately 140 million won ($100,000), that were allegedly used on patients, according to the Korea Customs Service at Seoul Regional Customs.

The seized items included tools such as dental handpieces and burs for cavity treatment and oral anesthetic injectors that make direct contact with patients’ gums.

According to customs officials, the dentists imported the equipment disguised as items for personal use to evade South Korea’s import requirements. Under South Korean law, dental and medical devices require approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug safety and must go through formal import customs procedures, unless intended for personal use.

Despite these regulations, the dentists reportedly bought the devices on overseas platform to save costs, and were found to have exchanged tips on direct overseas purchasing in group chats.

Each of the 13 dentists were fined between 10 million and 20 million won for violating customs law.

The custom officials said that it will strengthen customs inspections on overseas purchases of uncertified medical devices and continue to monitor domestic distribution channels.