Pubdate: Sat, 24 Aug 2002
Source: Enid News & Eagle (OK)
Copyright: Enid News & Eagle 2002
Contact:  http://www.enidnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2012
Author: Jay F. Marks

SELLING TROUBLE

5 face charges in the barter of vital ingredient of meth. Five Garfield 
County residents are free on $10,000 bond after being charged Friday with 
illegally selling an over-the-counter nasal decongestant that is a vital 
ingredient in clandestine methamphetamine labs.

Two others face similar charges in U.S. District Court in Oklahoma City. 
They were released Friday after posting $50,000 bond.

The suspects were charged as a result of a two-year investigation by 
federal, state and local authorities into the unlawful sale of pseudoephedrine.

It is against the law to sell pseudoephe-drine with the knowledge the buyer 
will use it to illegally manufacture meth-amphetamine.

Officers from Enid Police Department, District 26 Multi-County Narcotics 
Task Force, Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Drug Enforcement 
Administration teamed up in the investigation, which utilized undercover 
agents to purchase pseudoephedrine at a number of local stores.

The undercover officers always let the suspects know they were buying 
pseudoephedrine to be using in manufacturing methamphetamine, according to 
court documents.

Authorities searched six Enid businesses and one in Lahoma for more pills 
and purchasing records Thursday afternoon. Six of the seven suspects were 
arrested at that time.

Chang Bae Kim, Joon Tag Cho, Claude Allen McFalls, Young Tag Cho and Myong 
Davis are facing charges in Garfield County District Court, while Prakesh 
Patel and Daniel Bruce Huston are being prosecuted by federal authorities.

On Thursday, Narcotics Task Force Deputy Kim Alexander said Patel was the 
main target of the investigation.

He owns or has a stake in several of the stores authorities searched 
Thursday afternoon, Alexander said. The Internal Revenue Service is helping 
authorities connect him to the other businesses.

Alexander said an undercover agent bought two cases of pseudoephedrine 
pills from Patel for $4,000 Thursday, with promise to buy more. The agent 
left an additional $2,000 as a down payment.

*
Huston works at a convenience store owned by Patel on South Van Buren, 
authorities said. He allegedly sold pseudoephedrine pills to undercover 
officers on several occasions.

The five suspects facing state counts are charged with unlawful sale of 
precursor substances. Each count is punishable by up to 10 years in prison 
and a $25,000 fine.

*
Kim, 38, allegedly sold pseudoephedrine to undercover officers on three 
occasions - twice at a now-closed convenience store on North Van Buren in 
2000 and Aug. 2 at a store in Lahoma, according to court documents. The 
transactions involved 59 bottles of 60-milligram pills, which sold for 
nearly $500.

An undercover OBN agent asked Kim if he would be interested in trading 
methamphetamine for pills. Kim declined, telling the officer, "I only sell 
them," according to the affidavit.

*
Joon Tag Cho, 34, is charged with two counts of illegally selling 
pseudoephedrine.

Two undercover task force officers approached Cho at the smoke shop on East 
Garriott in September 2000. Cho limited purchases to five bottles at a time 
per person, but the officers went back and forth between the convenience 
store and smoke shop until they had accumulated 60 bottles, the affidavit 
states.

Officers purchased another 40 bottles the same way Feb. 7, 2001, according 
to the affidavit.

*
McFalls, 68, also faces two counts of selling pseudoephedrine to undercover 
agents who said they intended to use it to manufacture methamphetamine.

On Aug. 20, 2002, an undercover Enid police detective asked about buying 
pseudoephedrine after noticing none on display in Mac's Mart, his affidavit 
states. McFalls took five bottles from behind the counter and only let the 
detective buy that amount, according to the affidavit, although McFalls 
sold an additional five bottles to the detective when he returned to the 
store a few minutes later.

McFalls told the detective he was afraid of being fined by authorities for 
selling too much pseudoephedrine, the affidavit states. He said he limits 
his pill orders so his vender won't alert authorities.

*
Young Tag Cho, 30, surrendered to authorities Friday on two counts of 
unlawfully selling drug precursors.

He allegedly sold 20 bottles of pseudoephedrine to two undercover officers 
Sept. 28, 2000, forcing them to move between Mac's Mart No. 2 and the 
Downtown Smoke Shop to complete the $260 purchase, the affidavit state. He 
only sold them 10 bottles at each store.

One of the officers spoke to Cho about stocking a vitamin blend that could 
be used to cut his methamphetamine after he cooked it, according to the 
affidavit.

Last month, Cho allegedly sold eight bottles of the precursor substance to 
an Enid police detective and OBN agent, the affidavit states.

He refused to sell them more than four bottles each, saying he had other 
customers and needed to keep some pills in stock for them, according to the 
affidavit.

*
Bison resident Davis, 33, allegedly sold pseudoephed-rine pills to two 
undercover officers in April 2000. She is a clerk at Mac's Mart No. 1.
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