Japanese customs last year seized a smaller amount of stimulants and other illegal drugs that were smuggled into Japan but impounded a record amount of banned substances packaged in capsules, the Finance Ministry said in a report Thursday.

By weight, the amount of illegal drugs seized in 2002 came to 918 kg, down 11 percent from a year earlier but still the fourth-highest total on record, while the number of Ecstasy and other stimulant capsules impounded rose to a record 172,000.

Ecstasy is the street name for a category of encapsulated stimulants made from the chemical compound MDMA. For statistical purposes, the encapsulated stimulants are not included in illegal substances that were smuggled in noncapsule forms, the ministry said.