Meth element sought in pills

DOWNTOWN GLENDALE — Police have seen an increase in the number of people driving into the city to buy pills that contain pseudoephedrine at local pharmacies in order to make methamphetamine.

At least six men have been arrested in the last two weeks after they allegedly drove to different pharmacies in Glendale and other cities to either buy or steal pills — such as Clartin-D or Aleve-D — that contain pseudoephedrine, to make meth, according to police reports.

Pseudoephedrine is used as a decongestant and is the ingredient in some popular over-the-counter allergy medications, such as Sudafed, which illegal-drug manufacturers smash up and mix with other chemicals to make methamphetamine, Glendale Police Lt. Bruce Fox said.

“We are definitely seeing an uptake,” he said.

Illegal drug manufacturers used to be able to purchase large quantities of pills containing pseudoephedrine, and as a result of them being able to buy the pill, methamphetamine was made in large quantities in San Bernardino County, Fox said.

But in 2005 a bill was signed into law putting limits on how many pills a person can purchase each day, he said.

Federal law prohibits the sale of more than 3.6 grams of pseudoephedrine to a person in a day.

After lawmakers made it harder to purchase pseudoephedrine, illegal drug manufacturers went to Mexico because there weren’t regulations on how much people could buy, Fox said.

But once the Mexican government caught onto why large quantities of pseudoephedrine were being imported from China, it banned its use and trade in 2007, he said.

The rise in the number of people purchasing pseudoephedrine in the United States and locally can likely be attributed to Mexico’s ban of the ingredient, Fox said.

People who buy pseudoephedrine are generally solicited by another person to buy it, and that person drives them to different cities to purchase it at various pharmacies, Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.

A 31-year-old El Monte man and 44-year-old Glendale man were arrested March 13 on North Brand Boulevard after police discovered that they had been using coupons and going to pharmacies to buy pills that contained pseudoephedrine in order to make methamphetamine, according to police reports.

Four Los Angeles men, Jourdan Lynch, 20, Carlos Lopez, 19, Jose Lopez, 24, and Armando Perez, 21, were arrested Friday at South Kenwood Street and East Broadway after one of them purchased two packets of Aleve-D at Rite Aid Pharmacy in the Americana at Brand, according to police reports.

Carlos Lopez told police that Jose Lopez approached him near his home in Los Angeles to ask if he wanted to make $7 for every box of pills that he purchased from pharmacies, according to police reports.

Jose Lopez picked him up at Alvarado Street and Olympic Boulevard in Los Angeles and drove him to various pharmacies, where he bought pills and gave them to Jose Lopez, who paid him for each box, Carlos Lopez told police.

He and Lynch worked for Jose Lopez for about two months, Carlos Lopez told police

Perez and Carlos Lopez told police that they knew the pills were being used to manufacture methamphetamine.

But Lynch told police he didn’t know what the pills were used for.

Police often receive tips from residents or pharmacy employees when a large quantity of pseudoephedrine is being purchased by a group of people, and patrol officers will find the pills during routine traffic stops, Fox said.

Surveillance of a pharmacy will be set up if police see that the same group of people are buying the pill regularly, he said.

Pharmacist Narek Der Hartunian keeps a log of all of his customers who purchase pills that contain pseudoephedrine at Armen Pharmacy on the 1000 block of East Broadway.

He has been writing down customer information, which he gets from their California identification cards or driver’s licenses, since the law became effective, Der Hartunian said.

“They are only allowed to buy two boxes per month,” he said.

He has never reported anyone to police for buying too many pills because, he said, it’s never happened and isn’t the type of crime that would occur in the neighborhood.

Fox advises pharmacy employees who do suspect a person is buying pills containing pseudoephedrine for illegal use to call police.

 VERONICA ROCHA covers public safety and the courts. She may be reached at (818) 637-3232 or by e-mail at veronica.rocha@latimes.com.