Two Fairfax County convenience stores were snared in a undercover sting for selling too much of a strictly regulated stimulant used to make methamphetamine, police said Thursday.
Of the 51 Fairfax County stores where officers sought to buy ephedrine — a common ingredient in cold and diet pills — last month, only workers from One Stop Market on Richmond Highway in Alexandria and Texaco on Lee Highway in Fairfax violated Virginia’s year-old regulations on the sale of the chemical, police said.
Mike Boung, owner of the Fairfax One Stop Market, told The Examiner he sold undercover officers an entire case of pills containing ephedrine during the Oct. 15 sting. Boung, 35, said he disregarded the advice of his supplier that he could only sell a limited amount, and admitted to making “a big mistake.” He said the store has since stopped selling ephedrine.
Ephedrine is found in cough and diet pills and remained largely unregulated until the rise of methamphetamine use in Virginia.
“This is an ongoing effort to prevent any meth labs,” said Camille Neville, a Fairfax County police spokeswoman. “The fact that we’re out there checking hopefully is a deterrent for store owners and store workers to not violate this law.”
Meth labs, which can be a small as hotel rooms or trailers, are considered a far more prevalent problem in the more rural parts of the state. Fairfax County police say they have yet to discover a single lab in the county.
The two stores are among the five that county police have cited since the law went into effect July 1, 2006, Neville said. The law limited sales to no more than 3.6 grams of the chemical per customer per day.
Boung faces misdemeanor charges punishable by up to 12 months in jail and/or a $2,500 fine.
