Two Los Angeles County area pharmacies were broken into in less than an hour on July 3, one of which is owned by a Korean American.
The first burglary happened around 1:30 a.m. at Bellflower’s Medic Pharmacy. The second occurred around 2:30 a.m. at a pharmacy in Cerritos, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
“The damage is not significant,” the Cerritos pharmacy told the Korea Daily, adding, “I can’t disclose the specifics of the damage, but no medication was taken.”
The two pharmacies are about six miles apart, and the burglaries occurred within an hour of each other. The Sheriff’s Department is investigating whether the two cases are related.
“According to witnesses, three to five people broke into the pharmacy,” a public information officer with the Sheriff’s Department told KTLA. “The suspects broke the window to get in and fled in a white sedan.”
Pharmacy burglaries are also on the rise in Los Angeles Koreatown. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, there have been 36 burglaries of pharmacies in Koreatown alone this year as of May. One of these pharmacies has been robbed eight times.
Pharmacies are being targeted by burglars because of the costly narcotic drugs they sell. “They steal narcotic drugs that they cannot get without a prescription and sell them on the black market,” said Martin Kim, chairman of the California Korean American Pharmacists Association, in an interview with the Korea Daily last May. “Morphine and oxycodone used to cost about $400 for 8 ounces, but nowadays, the price should’ve gone up, so theft is more prevalent,” he said.
BY YOONJAE JUNG, HOONSIK WOO [jung.yoonjae@koreadaily.com]
