At least 12 pharmacies in and around Los Angeles Koreatown have been victimized by crime this year, with one pharmacy targeted eight times.
The Korea Daily reviewed Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) crime statistics for incidents involving “pharmacies” through May 14 and found that the LAPD Olympic Station, which has jurisdiction over Koreatown, has recorded a total of 36 incidents this year alone. This is the fourth-highest number among the 21 LAPD stations.
Most of the incidents were thefts, including 17 cases of shoplifting and nine cases of burglary, accounting for more than 70% of the total.
When categorized by address, the total number of victimized locations was 12, meaning some locations were hit multiple times.
A pharmacy on the south side of Koreatown, near the intersection of Vermont Avenue and Washington Boulevard, has been hit eight times in the last four months. A Rite Aid pharmacy is located near that address.
Also, near Wilshire Boulevard and Serrano Avenue on 3700 Wilshire Boulevard, there have been seven burglaries in the same period. A CVS pharmacy and a Ralph’s Market pharmacy are located adjacent to this address.
More recently, two break-ins occurred at the Hannam Chain’s mall pharmacy at 2700 W Olympic Boulevard.
This year, the number of crimes committed against Koreatown pharmacies has reached a 10-year high. Since 2014, when there were 22 crimes in the four-month period from January to April, there were more than 30 in 2017 (31 cases), 2018 (31 cases), 2022 (32 cases), and 2023 (33 cases). This year, the high is 36.
Burglaries targeting pharmacies are also prevalent across the city of Los Angeles. In March, police arrested six members of a serial robbery ring that hit at least seven pharmacies in the Los Angeles area. At the time, police reported that the suspects were looking for highly addictive promethazine-codeine cough syrup.
Pharmacies are often targeted by thieves because of the high cost of narcotic drugs and the relative lack of security.
“Four of the pharmacies in our association have been burglarized,” said Martin Kim, president of the California Korean American Pharmacists Association. “It became a topic of frequent discussion since last fall.”
“They steal narcotics that they can’t get without a prescription and sell them on the black market,” said Kim. “Things like morphine and oxycodone cost $400 for eight ounces, and now the price has gone up. It’s a lot of money, and that’s why these thefts are more prevalent.”
For pharmacies, Kim said, it’s a double whammy because it’s difficult to get insurance coverage if they are victimized more than once. “Pharmacies in high-crime areas are more vulnerable in that sense,” he said. “Recently, Korean-American pharmacists have been trying to prevent crime in various ways, such as installing roll-up shutters, replacing tempered glass, and adding an extra layer of walls.”
BY SUAH JANG, HOONSIK WOO [jang.suah@koreadaily.com]
