Bizarre craze behind smuggling of pills containing the powdered flesh of babies
Thanks to Aaron for this news article

SEOUL, South Korea – South Korean authorities have seized thousands of pills containing the powdered flesh of fetuses and babies that were smuggled in from China to be used as Viagara-style performance enhancers, according to multiple reports.

Nearly 17,500 of the bizarre capsules have been grabbed from tourists' luggage and international mail since last August, the state-run Korea Customs service said in a statement Monday.

The capsules were made in northeastern China in a stomach-turning process in which dead babies' bodies were chopped into small pieces and dried on stoves before being turned into powder, the Korea Customs Service said. Customs officials refused to say where the dead babies came from or who made the capsules, citing possible diplomatic friction with Beijing.

China ordered an investigation into the production of drugs made from dead fetuses or newborns last year.

Twisted myths about the medical powers of dead babies have long persisted in parts of China. Consumption of human placentas is believed to help revive blood supply and circulation, and many believe the fetus is a "tonic" for disease has kept the pills in demand, according to the China Daily.

But the latest use of fetal tissue is as a sexual performance enhancer, according to a report in the Global Times, a tabloid published by the official People’s Daily.

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