An Empty Apartment, 636,600 Cold Pills: How Police Broke a Meth Ring in Pyeongtaek

The apartment in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, was supposed to be empty. Tied up in a property dispute, nobody lived there. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, that made it the perfect cover for a methamphetamine lab, complete with security cameras and a parking barrier to keep unwanted visitors away.

Police have now caught 13 people. Five members of the ring, including its leader, are accused of producing 1.36 kilograms of methamphetamine there between April last year and June this year. Officers valued it at about 4.2 billion won, roughly $3.13 million, or around 40,000 doses. Four suspects have been referred to prosecutors in custody.

The raw material was everyday cold medicine. Six other suspects, including a licensed herbal pharmacist, allegedly supplied 636,600 tablets while knowing what they were for, handing them over in residential car parks. A pharmacy manager accused of selling large volumes without the required licence and a supplier of hazardous chemicals were also caught.

Police say the group learned its methods from foreign research papers, science experiment videos and even court rulings in similar cases. The drugs were seized before they could be sold, along with equipment and 635 grams of pseudoephedrine, and steps are under way to recover 130 million won in criminal proceeds.